The Trouble with Being a Parent
by Invaderk
Summary: [SSOC]The sequel of The Trouble with Being a Parent, in which Miranda finds danger again, Severus is overprotecive, and Harry faces some tough decisions. Will the Dark Lord be defeated, or will he get what he's been chasing?
1. Seth and Maria Simpson

A/N: I was, quite frankly, surprised at the number of people asked me for a sequel. Here is the sequel to _The Trouble with being a Professor_. Hope you all like it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing (except for my own characters)… especially not Harry Potter

Happy Reading!

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**The Trouble with Being a Parent**

**Chapter One – Seth and Maria Simpson**

Miranda stood in the deli line at the Muggle grocery shop, a slip with the number 74 between her pointer and middle fingers and her hands behind her back. The sign reading "Now Serving", which was hung up on the wall, now bore the number 72 in red, glowing letters. Miranda sighed and noiselessly tapped her foot to the tune of "We Are Family", which was drifting out of the grocery store speakers. Standing in front of her was a good-looking young man with short brown hair and a polo shirt. The deli man behind the counter hit a button and the numbers on the "Now Serving" sign changed from 72 to 73.

"Seventy three!" the deli man called.

"That's me," the good-looking man said, holding up his ticket.

"What can I do for you?"

"I'll take a pound and a half of the imported ham," the good-looking man, obviously a Muggle, said in a slightly pompous voice, as if he was a professional ham orderer.

"Right-o, sir. Coming right up."

The good-looking man turned around and his eyes fell on Miranda. She gave him a polite smile, which he returned. Then his eyes fell to her feet.

"Nice boots," the man said with a smile.

Miranda looked down and saw her once spotless, dragon-hide leather, now worn and decrepit combat boots. She looked back up.

"Thanks," she replied, grinning.

Whether Miranda's smile had enchanted him or he was just curious, the good-looking man kept his eyes on Miranda as she pulled out her wallet and began fumbling with her money. The man took a step back so that he was beside her and peered at the picture in her wallet. The picture was of a little girl sporting two dark blonde pigtails (one of which was higher than the other), a pointed wizard hat, and black robes. The little girl in the picture was holding a small cauldron in one hand and a wand in the other. The wand was emitting red sparks and the girl was laughing. In this picture, everything was moving. The good-looking man chuckled softly and Miranda looked up at him.

"Amazing technology, no?" the man said. "Moving pictures – it's like magic. I like the Halloween costume, too. The wand is so realistic. Your sister looks a lot like you."

"Oh, that's not my sister," Miranda said pleasantly, smiling warmly. "That's my daughter."

The man's mouth dropped open and he quickly laughed to cover it up. He ran a hand through his nice hair and winked at Miranda, who was trying not to laugh as well.

"Kids, huh? I like that in a woman," the good-looking man said. "Why don't you and I get together sometime? I know a great theater over in –"

The man was interrupted suddenly when a woman came bustling over with a shopping cart. She thrust a package of boxers into his hands.

"Ryan, have they taken our order yet?" the woman said.

The good-looking man blushed slightly and replied meekly, "Yes, mother."

At that moment the deli-man appeared over the counter-top, holding the order.

"Here you go, sir," the deli-man said.

The woman took the meat from the deli man and pushed the cart away, talking to the good-looking man all the while. The good-looking man looked at Miranda, who smiled.

"I have a little advice for you," Miranda said kindly. "Next time you try picking up someone, do two things."

"Yes?" the man looked hopeful.

"One, make sure your mother's not around – especially if you still live with her. Two, check for a ring," Miranda said, and then held up her hand so the good-looking man could see the diamond wedding ring that she had on her finger.

The good-looking man winced and walked away, shoulders slumped.

"Seventy four!" the deli man called, and Miranda stepped up, smiling.

"I'll take the usual, Fred," Miranda said. "Only make the cheese a pound and a half. Christine's been eating like it's her last day alive, recently."

"Just a mo', Maria," the deli man said with a tip of his cap.

"Thanks, Fred."

o-o-o

Miranda parked the car in the driveway of her modest home, which was in an undisclosed area of Britain. The home was white and had blue shutters, and there was a picket fence leading into the driveway, which she had hit many times with her car. Miranda sighed somewhat happily and somewhat sadly, for she knew that she would much rather be elsewhere, but this home was a good one, and the company wasn't bad, either.

Miranda got out of the car, closed the door and locked it with a prod from her finger. She walked up the walkway and opened the front door very slowly. The inside of the house was very quiet, and this unnerved Miranda ever so slightly. She soundlessly, carrying the bag of groceries in one hand, stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. Within a second, however, a scream had erupted from nowhere and something hurdled itself at Miranda, causing her to drop her bag. Miranda looked down and saw a little girl – the same girl from the picture – with her arms wrapped around her mother's legs.

"Hello Christine," said Miranda lightly, ruffling her daughter's hair.

Christine looked up at Miranda and grinned.

"Guess what Daddy got me?" Christine chirped.

"What did Daddy get you?" Miranda grew slightly nervous.

"A lolly!"

Miranda laughed and bent over to scoop up her daughter in one arm and the grocery bag in the other. She was not surprised in the least, and planted a kiss on Christine's cheek as she headed into the kitchen. She set the bag down on the table and prodded it with her finger. The items in the bag rose out and took their designated places in the kitchen. Christine chattered animatedly in her mother's arms as Miranda bustled about the kitchen.

"Where is your father?" asked Miranda to Christine.

Christine stopped talking and placed a finger on her lips, deeply in thought. Christine, being a witch, was developing motor and verbal skills far faster than Muggle children. Christine had succeeded in reading a sentence just yesterday, completely unassisted. For a five-year-old, this was quite the feat, seeing as Christine had never been to a school.

"I think he's sleeping," Christine said conclusively.

"Incorrect, Christine," Came a voice from the doorway.

Miranda turned around to see Severus standing in the doorway to the kitchen, leaning up against the frame as if he was bored, still dressed in his work clothes. After the escapade at Hogwarts, Severus and Miranda had, as they had known they would have had to do, gone into hiding. Their house was under the Fidelius Charm, and their secret-keeper was Albus Dumbledore himself. They had gotten married after a few minor fiascos and had purchased this small, yet cozy, house. There they lived as Muggles, blending in well with society. The few who knew them knew them as Seth and Maria Simpson. Severus worked as a medicine-maker of sorts, creating new medicines for people. He had faked his curriculum vitae, saying that he was a graduate from the States. He had been able to disclose documentation to prove which university he had been to, and Albus had posed as the Dean of said university on the phone. Severus was well-known for his remarkable ability to create the perfect medicine, and people often said that his work was "like magic". Strangely enough, lots of people said that the Simpsons were peculiar in this way, almost like they could do magic. But that was, of course, ridiculous.

Miranda crossed the room and hugged Severus, sighing. They walked together over to the kitchen table, Severus pausing to pick up Christine, and sat at the kitchen table. Severus set Christine down in her chair and sat himself down across from Miranda, who looked slightly bored.

"How was your day?" Miranda asked Severus, leaning her chin on her fist.

He nodded slightly.

"It was fine," Severus said. "Muggles are truly dull, though. Peter won't stop talking about his latest date with some long-legged blonde. He doesn't seem to understand that I really don't care."

Miranda chuckled. Peter was Severus' partner in work. Brilliant but young and foolish, Peter was always talking about his latest dates to Severus, who could really care less if Peter jumped off a cliff.

"Well," said Miranda slowly. "Trish is coming over soon and we're going shopping. Care to come?"

"No," Severus replied shortly.

Miranda laughed lightly.

"Oh come on, Sev, you know you want to get a new pair of slacks," Miranda teased.

"No I most certainly do not," Snapped Severus, who, as Miranda well knew, missed sorely the days of overly-dramatic, swooshing black robes.

Christine watched as her parents bickered; this did not faze her at all, because she knew that her parents were just this way. It was like their way of showing that they cared for one another. Christine pulled her lolly from her pocket and stuck it in her mouth, savoring in the splendid grape flavor. For some reason, she found that she only liked the flavor grape.

"Yes, well, what time is she arriving?" Severus asked.

"Er," started Miranda. "Well, I forgot. Hold on…"

Miranda stood up and walked over to the far wall of the kitchen, which was covered in sticky notes. She plucked a pink one off the wall and read it aloud.

"Trish. Three o' clock."

Severus looked up at the clock in the kitchen and jumped up, not at all surprised to find that Miranda had, once again, lost track of time and forgotten what she was supposed to do.

"She'll be here any minute," Severus exclaimed. "I'll fix up the house."

Severus swept into the sitting room and raised a hand outwards. He turned slowly and made a sweeping motion, causing all of the moving pictures to freeze in their frames. The mirror was made to not talk, and any trace of magic had been concealed. This was a normal procedure, though bothersome, for Miranda's friend Trish was a Muggle.

Sure enough, the second Severus let his hands fall to his sides there was a knock on the door. Severus strode over and opened the door, allowing Trish to come inside.

"Hello Seth," Trish said cheerfully, though her smile faded slightly under Severus' intense stare. "Er – where's Maria?"

"I'm right here, Trish," Miranda said, striding into the entrance hall, pulling a brown jacket on as she walked.

"Good, let's go!" Trish exclaimed, and backed out of the house and down the steps.

Miranda stopped in the doorway and gave Severus a conclusive look.

"Okay, I'm leaving. Are you sure you can handle Christine while I'm gone?" said Miranda, and Severus nodded curtly. "Alright, well, I'm off!"

With that and one last peck on the cheek, Miranda was walking down the path with Trish and climbing into Trish's classic Thunderbird. Miranda closed the door and buckled up as Trish started off towards the mall.

"No offence, Maria, but your husband gives me a weird feeling," Trish said, switching on her blinker to take a left turn.

"Pardon?"

"I mean, he's just so – so _cold_. Not exactly friendly," Trish explained, jerking her head to brush her blonde fringe away from her face.

Miranda laughed.

"Not friendly, no," Miranda said, smiling. "He cares though, whether he shows it or not. More often not than so, but he's got a heart someplace."

"Well I think you're abarmy fool," Trish said decisively.

"That's true, and I'll take what you say," Miranda replied. "Just don't slag him to his face – it might be the last thing you ever do."

They drove on in silence for a while until the massive outline of the mall loomed ahead. Miranda felt a sudden adrenaline rush that could only be associated with the prospect of spending lots of money. After all, she and Severus were not so badly off in the money department. Miranda hadn't gone shopping in a long time, and it was beginning to show in her torn jacket. Trish looked down at Miranda's feet and groaned.

"Maria, you _need_ to get some new shoes," Trish said. "Yours are hideous and combat boots went out of style a decade ago."

Miranda snorted.

"I think not, my good friend. These boots have helped me out of more tight spots than you would imagine," retorted Miranda. "Been through a handful of doors, too. I couldn't give them up – not until the soles fall off and I can't walk in them any longer."

"Which doesn't seem all that far away."

Miranda gave an indignant sniff and looked down at her boots. When Trish had asked about the strange leather, which was dragon-hide, Miranda had told her it was from an exotic, Japanese cow. True to her word in a sense, the boots had helped her out of a tight spot five years back, when she had been taken captive by Lord Voldemort himself so that she could pass on the elusive _Progenitor Veneficium_. Trish parked the car and the two women got out, linked arms, and happily strolled into the mall.

Later, both weighed down by bags, Miranda and Trish headed towards the food court. Muggles always found ways of amazing Miranda, for she was a pureblood and had never even been to a Muggle store before going into hiding with Severus.

"I'm famished," Trish said, dropping into a chair at a vacant table. "Here, you stay with the bags and I'll get us something to eat."

Miranda nodded and Trish headed off for the nearest fast food chain. As Miranda looked around, she saw two people she recognized. One of them was female and the other was male. The female was not incredibly tall and had bushy brown hair. The male was gangly and freckled, with red hair that stuck out like a sore thumb. Miranda opened her mouth to call them, but remembered she was supposed to be in hiding. After a silent mental debate, Miranda stood up.

"Oh, bullocks to this! Hey, Ron! RON!"

The freckled boy spun around with the bushy-haired girl and his mouth dropped. He grabbed the girl's hand and they ran over to where Miranda was standing, grinning from ear to ear.

"Fancy seeing you here," Ron said, breathless.

"Yeah I know," Miranda said, sounding like an excited kid. "Wow, look at you two! You're all grown up – it's been a while. We've been you-know-what-ting all this time, so we haven't been seeing anybody."

"Yes, this is Ron's first time at the mall," said Hermione with a smile.

"Heh, that'll happen when you're an, er," Miranda dropped her voice lower so that nobody surrounding could hear. "Pureblood."

She straightened back up and smiled.

"So, how's Harry?"

Ron and Hermione exchanged a dark look and turned back to Miranda.

"Well, Professor –" Hermione began, but Trish chose this time to return with a tray of food.

"_Professor_?" Trish said incredulously. "I never knew you were a teacher, Maria!"

Ron opened his mouth to correct Trish's use of Miranda's name, but Hermione stepped on his foot.

"Oh, yes," Miranda said hastily, thinking that her decision to call out Ron and Hermione may not have been such a good one. "Yes, I taught for a year."

"What did you teach?" Trish asked, fascinated as she slurped her strawberry-pineapple smoothie.

"Er," Miranda said awkwardly, turning her eyes to Hermione for help.

"Science," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"Yes, science," Miranda said.

Hermione looked at her watch suddenly and tugged on Ron's sleeve.

"Ron! We've gotta go, we were supposed to meet Lupin five minutes ago!" Hermione exclaimed, and Ron's eyes widened.

"Sorry Professor," Ron said, as if Miranda had not heard. "We're late. Nice to see you, though."

"And you," said Miranda, and then made meaningful eye contact with Hermione and added, "it's a shame you didn't see Miranda."

Hermione nodded and grabbed Ron's hand. Miranda saw Hermione squeeze it and Ron got the picture immediately.

"Yeah, shame," Ron said in a lamenting voice. "See you around."

"See you, Ron. Hermione."

With that, Ron and Hermione hurried off, still holding hands. When Hermione and Ron had disappeared into the family bathroom, obviously to take cover so that they could apparate, Miranda sat back down and picked a french fry from Trish's tray.

"So, Maria, tell me more about this teaching job you had," Trish said between bites of a cheeseburger and fries. "Sounds like the kids liked you."

Miranda shrugged.

"Ah, Trish, it was so long ago," Miranda said with a sigh. "I guess I was alright. They liked me well enough."

Trish leaned forward a little and snatched up a bottle of ketchup.

"So what kind of science did you teach?" Trish asked, pouring the ketchup onto her burger.

"Er," Miranda said. "Chemistry. Lots of different potions – _properties_, I mean, of course."

Trish chuckled and said, "_Potions_. Maria, you really need to stop reading fantasy stories to that daughter of yours."

"Heh," Miranda laughed with uncertainty. "Let's go to the swimsuit store, shall we? I need a new two-piece."

At the swimsuit store, Miranda quickly found what she had been looking for; a plain, red two piece with ties on the sides. While Miranda only took one thing, Trish was having a really hard time finding what she was looking for. Nothing, it seemed, was in her size. Miranda watched as Trish sorted through swimsuit after swimsuit and was never satisfied. Finally she grabbed the closest one in exasperation and rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'll settle," Trish said grumpily. "To the changing room."

Miranda went into the closest changing room and quickly tried on the swimsuit. She turned to view her profile in the mirror and made a 'hmm' sound.

"Could use a little tightening here," Miranda muttered, poking at the back of the swimsuit. "A trim here. Perfect!"

Miranda had magically fitted her swimsuit so that it fit her perfectly, a feat which she had discovered how to do many, many years ago.

"Come on Maria, let me see," said an impatient Trish from the other side of the changing stall.

Miranda opened the door a crack and Trish pushed her way in, then stopped and stared, open-mouthed, at Miranda.

"Wow," Trish said, impressed. "The first one you pick out is absolutely _perfect_! You have a gift, Maria, it's like magic."

Miranda shrugged and ushered Trish out of the room so that she could get dressed. Afterwards, Trish tried on her swimsuit and gave an aggravated groan from inside the changing room.

"I love the design, but it just doesn't fit right!" scowled Trish. "I'm too bony!

"Let me in," Miranda said, and Trish obliged.

Trish was right, the swimsuit wasn't quite right.

"Let me see, I'll just tweak it a bit," Miranda said, and then proceeded to magically fit the swimsuit so it was perfect for Trish.

"I can't believe it," Trish said, examining her profile much like Miranda had done. "You really _do_ have a gift."

Miranda shrugged and exited the changing stall.

"Come on Trish, let's get out of here."

On the way out of the mall, Miranda got sidetracked and found herself in a men's clothing store, a lollipop in her mouth. Trish followed, chattering about her latest boyfriend, Peter. Miranda only half-listened as she examined a selection of ties.

"I think he hates me," Trish said suddenly.

"Who? Your boyfriend?"

"No, Seth."

Miranda spun around, eyebrows raised. She laughed with gusto.

"He doesn't hate you, Trish," Miranda reassured her. "He acts like that to everybody. Even me, a lot of the time. It's one of those things. He's, well, bitter, really."

"And yet you still shag him," Trish said reflectively, smirking.

"_Trish!_" exclaimed Miranda, gagging on her lollipop, blushing profusely, and giving her friend a sharp poke in the abdomen. "Sod off; I can shag whoever the bloody hell I want to."

Trish bent double, laughing as Miranda, scowling, went back to her tie selection.

"Which one do you think?" Miranda asked, taking a step back so that Trish could better see the selection of ties.

Trish pointed without hesitation to the plain, black one.

"How about that one?" Trish said, catching her breath and wiping away a tear of mirth.

"No, I think I like this one," Miranda said, picking out a pink tie with different colored spots.

"You really like torturing him, don't you?" Trish said, laughing again.

Miranda smirked.

"Oh, trust me, it never gets old," said Miranda, smirking.

o-o-o

Miranda arrived at home near eight o' clock, carrying her bags and feeling refreshed. Severus was sitting in a chair, a cauldron at his feet. Miranda dropped her bags and ambled over to him. He was intently focused on his project, his greasy black hair hanging about his face as he worked. Miranda yawned and dropped the floor, spreading her arms out and enjoying her relaxation. Severus spared her a quick glance before turning back to his cauldron.

"Where's Christine?" Miranda asked quietly, rubbing her eyes.

"Sleeping," Severus said shortly, now scanning a piece of parchment.

Suddenly an owl flew through the open window and dropped a letter, which landed straight into Severus' cauldron. Severus jumped up, cursed, and levitated the letter out. Miranda sat, up, interested as Severus tore open the letter and read it quickly. A shocked look came over his face and was quickly replaced by a look of incredulity.

"What? No, surely he doesn't mean –"

"What?" asked Miranda, jumping up and making to snatch the letter from Severus.

Severus handed her the letter and she read it over. After reading it, she felt as if someone had boxed in her ears. She read it over again, slowly this time, and felt a surge of excitement at what she read.

_Dearest Severus and Miranda,_

_I am not sure if you know this, but Harry Potter was recently injured during a Death Eater attack. He is grievously injured by dark magic and will take a while to heal. During this fragile time, Harry needs to stay somewhere where he can be safe and away from harm. You both currently reside in the safest place at the given time, and I must ask of you to lend Harry housing for a brief period of time. Please send a reply by return owl as soon as possible._

_Yours most sincerely,_

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

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A/N: Dun dun dun…? The first chapter was developmental, and the real plot will begin soon, so alright. 


	2. Home is Where the Snapes Are

A/N: Yarr…

I'm happy because I got a perfect 20/20 on Harry Potter hangman, though writing this chapter was like pulling teeth – writer's block.

Disclaimer: I own nothing… especially not Harry Potter

Happy Reading!

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**Chapter Two – Home is Where the Snapes Are**

Miranda looked up from the letter nervously, waiting for the pending explosion from Severus. Sure enough, his lips were tightly pursed and he looked rather dangerous. She, of course, was more than happy to allow Harry to stay with them – heck, they even had a pull-out bed in the sitting room. She also knew, however, that Severus hated Harry just as he hated Harry's father.

"Severus –" Miranda began, but Severus glared at her.

"Absolutely not," Severus said in a low voice. "He is not staying here. I will not allow it."

At that moment Christine appeared at the top of the stairs, clutching a blanket in one hand and rubbing her eye with the other. She slowly worked her way down the stairs and across the room until she was behind Miranda, who was standing tensely with the letter clutched in her hand.

"Severus, didn't you read what it said? Harry _needs_ a place to stay!"

"I don't care."

"Well I do," Miranda said, walking up to Severus and holding the letter under his hooked nose. "Harry could die, Severus. _Die_!"

"Well then he can go somewhere else!" Severus yelled. "I will not have him here; he would work as a magnet, drawing the Death Eaters and maybe the Dark Lord himself to this very place!"

"We are protected, Severus, you just don't like Harry because you can't give up a grudge," Miranda yelled back, red sparks issuing from her fingertips. "You just don't want to be bothered!"

"I will not put my family into danger, Miranda! I will _not_!"

At the sound of Severus' raised, angry voice, Christine began to cry. Miranda jumped, spun around and saw Christine standing there for the first time. She rushed over and picked up the crying child, holding Christine's head to Miranda's shoulder. Miranda and Severus alike took deep breaths, trying to keep from arguing any longer.

"Severus," Miranda said slowly. "Just give it a chance. I'm sure Harry'll heal and he'll be gone before you even have the chance to sneer at him."

Severus shook his head and slumped down on the couch, looking defeated.

"You wouldn't understand," Severus said "I cannot stand the boy."

Miranda smiled and sat down on the couch, Christine in one of her arms. She leaned in closer and affectionately pushed a strand of greasy hair behind his ear.

"I remember you saying that about a certain somebody else," Miranda said, smiling slightly. "A certain somebody who you're now married to."

"It's not like that," replied Severus, leaning back and putting his face in his hands. "Not only is Potter obnoxious and just like his father before him, but every time I have to look him in the eye it's like – like being reminded of what I did to him. I hate him, Miranda, I really do, but it's really hard, knowing what – what I did to him."

Miranda sighed and placed Christine onto the couch, and she immediately crawled onto her father's lap and hugged him, still sniffling from her crying session. Miranda got closer to Severus and hugged him as well, closing her eyes and tucking her feet (combat boots and all) into a comfortable position on the couch. He wrapped one arm around Christine and the other around Miranda, knowing that he was fighting a long lost battle.

"Okay," Severus said quietly at long last. "You win; Potter can stay."

Miranda felt the comforting vibrations in his chest from his deep voice and squeezed his ribcage.

"Cheers," She murmured, and fell asleep.

Severus snapped open his eyes to find that he was still sitting on the couch, his arms around his two favorite females in the world. He looked up towards the window and tried to look through the shades to decide the time of day. Was it early or was it late? Severus raised a hand in front of his face, whispered "_time_" and the time 11:00 floated in hovering letters just above his palm. He nodded groggily and closed his hand, causing the time to disappear, and carefully moved Christine onto the couch. After moving the five-year-old successfully, he slowly moved Miranda off of him, not wanting to wake her up. She slept on as if nothing had happened, and he stood up. He raised his arms above his head, stretched, and then picked Christine up.

Severus carried Christine into her dark room, pausing only to make a dim light, and carefully set his only child down in her bed. Afterwards, he soundlessly left the room, turning off the light behind him. Severus descended the stairs and stopped walking in front of the couch. Miranda was still asleep in a strange position on the couch with her legs bent and her arm over her head. Severus sighed. He picked her up and carried her up to their bedroom, her arm dangling limply and her boots making a faint jingling noise. He nudged open the bedroom door quietly with his foot and crossed the room. He magicked the sheets forward and placed her down carefully in her spot. He pointed at her combat boots and they unlaced themselves before sliding off her feet. Severus picked up the boots and placed them on the floor, but not before studying them with a slight smirk on his face. The sole of the right boot had begun to peel off and the steel toe was clearly visible through the worn dragon hide. Severus wondered vaguely when Miranda had gotten these boots. For Severus, ever since there was a Miranda there had been the combat boots. When he had first met Miranda the boots had been far from new, but now they just looked pitiful. With the softest of laughs, Severus placed the boot down and crawled into bed, pulling the covers over Miranda before lying down and falling asleep.

When Miranda awoke, she did not quite remember how she had gotten there. She shook her head vigorously to the side and hopped out of bed. She padded on down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Severus was doing the crossword. She sat down across from him and summoned a cup of coffee out of nowhere.

"Good morning," She said idly.

He looked up at her and then back down at his crossword.

"Is it?"

Miranda chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"I've written the reply and sent it to Albus," Severus continued.

"Good. When will Harry be here?"

Severus looked up again from his crossword, his face empty of expression. He looked back down at the crossword and then back up at Miranda, who was smiling pleasantly.

"I would suppose," Severus began, "that the arrival time of the Potter boy depends on when Albus gets the letter."

"That would be soon, then," Miranda concluded. "Are you working today?"

"No," Severus replied in a bored voice, turning again to the newspaper. "The facility is closed for the day due to the leaking of harmful chemicals. That would be Peter's fault, I would imagine."

"I bet you would," Miranda said somewhat darkly. "Well, I'm going to go and make this place more like a home for Harry."

Severus looked up.

"What are you on about?" he said sharply.

Miranda placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. Severus was intelligent, sure, but incredibly naïve.

"What do you mean 'what am you on about'? Harry needs a place to camp out while he's here, doesn't he?"

"The back yard is a great place for camping," Severus said nonchalantly, writing something down on the crossword. "He can play with the wolves that come around at night."

Miranda laughed.

"Very funny, oh Serpent King of Cruelty, but sorry. Harry's sleeping on the pull-out bed in the sitting room."

"Where am I supposed to work?" Severus asked, referring to the potions work he often did in the sitting room.

"You can work in your office," Miranda replied shortly, draining her mug. "Unless you want Harry to sleep in your office. I'm sure he'd absolutely _love_ screwing around with all your stuff."

Severus jumped up and swept past his wife, heading in the direction of the sitting room.

"I'll pull out the couch."

When Severus disappeared from sight, Miranda smirked.

"That's what I thought."

Miranda smirked and took up Severus' crossword. She started on it with a smile on her lips.

Later in the day, the house was ready for Harry's arrival. The hour was growing later and later, and Severus was growing restless. He sat Christine down on the couch and looked at her very sternly.

"Now Christine, I expect you to be on your best behavior," Severus said, his face close to his daughter's. "Our guest will not be with us for long, but while he is here, you will treat him just like you treat your mother and myself. Got it?"

Christine, who was used to her father's educated and serious way of speaking, nodded. She was completely at ease while many adults had cowered under his glowering stare. He smiled and chuckled at his daughter's eased expression. He ran a hand through her hair.

"Good," he said, pulling a grape lollipop out of his pocket and handing it to her.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Miranda, who had been pacing up and down in the foyer of the house, jumped and ran to the door. She looked through the eyehole and then opened the door. Standing there was Harry Potter, who was being supported by Remus Lupin. One of Harry's arms was held over Remus' shoulder by Remus and a finger on Remus' other hand was hooked in Harry's belt loop. Both of the visitors looked pleasant; Remus looked much younger, possibly due to the fact that Umbridge had been impeached and he had managed to get a good job. And, Miranda noticed, Remus had a gold wedding band on his finger. Harry looked very weak, but still pleased to see Miranda.

"Hey guys," Miranda said cheerfully. "Come on in!"

She pushed the door back and Remus slowly came in, assisting a limping Harry. Miranda quickly darted over and put Harry's other arm over her shoulder she mimicked Remus' position, sticking her finger through the belt loop closest to Remus. Together they helped (yet mostly carried) Harry into the sitting room. They set him down on the bed, straightened up, Miranda shook hands with Remus.

"It's been a while, Remus," said Miranda. "How's dear Tonks?"

Remus beamed.

"Excellent," said Remus. "We're expecting!"

"Brilliant," exclaimed Miranda. "Congrats."

Remus bowed slightly and gestured towards the door.

"We have," He said, "A moving crew."

As he said this, Ron, Hermione, and unmistakably Ginny Weasley came into the room, carrying various items. Ron was carrying a large suitcase while Hermione helped Ginny bring in a large trunk, on top of which was a large bottle of firewhiskey. Severus came in that moment with Christine attached to his leg. Everyone looked slightly apprehensive except for Miranda, and Remus strode forward.

"Hello Severus," Remus said, shaking Severus' hand. "Great to see you." He got down on his knees and smiled at Christine. "And you must be Christine."

Christine growled and bared her teeth, causing Remus to laugh good-naturedly.

"She clearly takes after you, Severus," Remus said, straightening up and turning around to see how the move-in was going.

Ron and Hermione had already moved the suitcase under the bed and were now struggling to shove the trunk underneath as well. Miranda rushed forward and helped them. Ginny got down on one knee in front of Severus and smiled at Christine. Christine gave Ginny the same reaction that she had given Remus.

"I can do that, too, you know," Ginny said, baring her teeth and growling at Christine.

Christine burst into laughter and detached herself from Severus' leg.

"I like you," Christine said in her little voice.

"I like you, too," Ginny replied, and Christine hugged the older girl.

Ginny laughed and Christine ran over to Miranda, who had straightened up after successfully kicking the trunk under Harry's bed. Harry had sat in silence thus far, watching as everyone had worked around him. Both of his legs were bandaged, one more than the other, and Miranda could see a tiny bit of bandage poking out from underneath Harry's shirt. Ginny crossed the room and sat down next to Harry, draping an arm over his shoulders and pulling him beside her. Harry merely stared ahead and sighed. Ginny whispered something in his ear and he smiled slightly. With a chuckle, Ginny kissed Harry's temple and stood.

"Okay, is everything ready?" Remus asked, and everyone nodded. "Good, let's go."

Hermione and Ginny both gave Harry very gentle hugs. Ron and Remus shook his hand, and with one last nod to Severus and Miranda, the two redheads and Hermione left. Remus left, too, after handing Miranda the firewhiskey and explaining that it was from Molly as a token of their appreciation.

"He's a little nervous," Remus breathed into Miranda's ear, and Miranda grinned. "I don't think he likes the idea of leaving his friends and facing Severus alone."

She looked over to see that Harry was twiddling his thumbs and staring down at his feet. She looked back at Remus, who raised his eyebrows, and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

Remus nodded, shook Severus' hand again, and was gone. Miranda gave Severus a pointed look and walked over to Harry.

"So, Harry, what have we got here?"

Harry looked up and Miranda was suddenly struck with the thought of how green his eyes were – like his mother's. This thought was not unusual, but the resemblance was shocking. Harry sighed and leaned back on the couch.

"Legs and chest," Harry said. "We were in Diagon Alley, actually, and the Death Eaters came out of nowhere, which was really stupid for them to do, seeing as there were Aurors everywhere."

Miranda snorted and Christine wandered over to Harry.

"So we all started fighting and eventually I got hit," continued Harry, rolling his eyes. "I guess it figures that I'm the one who's supposed to kill Voldemort and I'm the only one who gets injured."

"You were the only one?" Miranda said, shocked.

"Well, the only one of us," Harry said. "A few of the Death Eaters got killed in the scramble. Mulciber and Jugson, I think."

Miranda stared at Harry for a while and took in just how much he had grown. He was twenty one now, and a man at that. His hair was as unruly as ever and he had the same silly specs, but he had filled out his lanky frame. Sort of. In actuality, he was really just an older-looking version of what he was when he was sixteen. Miranda smiled.

"You've grown so much, Harry," Miranda said.

Harry smirked and replied, "Yeah, tell me about it."

Miranda and Harry both laughed, but Harry's smile faded as his eyes landed on Severus, who was standing in the doorway with a look of dislike on his face.

"Hello, sir," Harry said plainly.

"Good evening, Potter," Severus replied, and strode off into the kitchen.

Christine hopped down from the couch and went running after her father. Miranda looked back at Harry with a knowing expression.

"Don't mind him, Harry," Miranda said quietly. "Once he gets used to you, I'm sure you'll be the best of friends." At the look on Harry's face, she laughed and added, "Well, maybe not. Now let's take a look at your 'grievous injuries' as Albus had said."

Harry nodded and gingerly pulled up his pant leg to his knee. After unwrapping the wounds, Miranda understood why Harry had been having a hard time walking. The skin from his ankle to just below his knee was red and raw, though tinged with a burnt-looking black. His other leg was much the same, only the nasty-looking injury spread to above his knee. Miranda helped Harry move over onto his bed so that he could prop his legs up for examination. He unbuttoned his shirt and magically tore off the bandage to reveal that most of his torso was covered with the similar condition. Severus strode into the room with a steaming cup, placed the cup down on the bedside table, and sat down on the edge of Harry's bed across from Miranda.

"Let me have a look here, Potter," said Severus tersely.

Severus examined the wounds, occasionally making a sound or asking Harry a question. Afterwards, he snapped his fingers and the steaming mug hovered over to his hands. He took it. He pulled out a cloth from his back pocket and, after putting some of the steaming liquid onto it, dabbed Harry's wounds. Harry, who had been expecting something dreadfully hot, jumped as the potion touched his skin. It was like ice and painful to boot. Harry grasped his blanket and squeezed it to keep from showing any weakness. After the initial pain, the potion worked and gave a splendid cooling sensation, which was greatly appreciated because the burn-like wounds were very hot and uncomfortable, as well as excruciating.

"Let them breathe for the time being," Severus said in his usual drawl. "Rewrap in an hour or so."

Harry nodded and Severus strode off without a backward glance. Miranda looked at Harry, shrugged, and stood up.

"Call me if you need me, Harry," Miranda said.

Harry nodded again and Miranda left, too. Harry sighed and slouched down, wincing slightly as he aggravated his wounds. Snape (well, Severus Snape in particular) had been using wandless magic. Harry knew of the _Progenitor Veneficium_ and its affects, but the idea of it still gave him the heebie jeebies. Harry never could understand why Miranda liked Snape, but he wasn't so sure he cared to understand. He slid down on the bed into a laying position and quickly fell asleep, having been exhausted from the move.

That night, Severus was reading a book called _Learning to Chill Out – A Dummy's Guide_ as he sat in bed. The door opened and Miranda came in, carrying her shopping bag from her latest shopping spree. She sat down on the bed and began taking things out, examining them, folding them, and throwing them. The thrown articles would fly through the air and magically take their places in the proper place, all the while remaining perfectly folded.

Miranda reached into her shopping bag and pulled out the horrific pink, spotted tie that she had bought. Severus looked up and perked a brow.

"Who is _that_ for?" Severus asked incredulously.

"You," Miranda replied simply.

Severus laughed out loud and slammed his book shut.

"Belt up," Severus said sharply, still chuckling. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever had the misfortune to lay eyes on."

Miranda feigned offence.

"I thought it would go with your colorful personality," Miranda said, throwing it at him and smirking.

Severus pulled the tie off his head, tossed it to the side, placed his book on his lap, and reached across the bed. He reached a hand inside the bag and pulled out the red swimsuit top.

"Please don't tell me this is for me as well," Severus said in mock exasperation, causing Miranda to laugh.

"No, it's mine. And I'll take that back, thank you!" Miranda said, snatching it back and stuffing it into her bag.

"Miranda, summer's over," Severus said bluntly.

"I know that," Miranda said, rolling her eyes. "Swimsuits are cheaper in the off season."

"Whatever," Severus said, and opened his book again.

Miranda saw the title of the book, laughed, and prepared for sleep.

o-o-o

Miranda sat in the kitchen, twirling a lollipop anxiously in her mouth as she read over the morning issue of the _Daily Prophet_. On the front cover of the paper, above the fold, was a huge picture of the Dark Mark shimmering above a house in Dufftown. Though the picture was black and white, Miranda could see in her mind's eye the glittering green of the Dark Mark that appeared only when murder had taken place. Above the picture the newspaper bore the headline:

**Death Eater Attack: A Dozen Killed**

Harry came limping into the kitchen, dressed in pajamas, and sat down at the table with a grunt across from Miranda. He put his head in his arms and sighed, as if the effort of walking into the kitchen had been great. Miranda bid him good morning and he responded with an inarticulate grumble.

"Death Eater attack last night," Miranda said, still pouring over the newspaper.

Harry picked his head up instantly and squinted, for he didn't have his glasses on.

"How many killed?" Harry asked in a concerned voice.

"A dozen."

Harry groaned and went back to his previous position. Miranda could tell what Harry was thinking and didn't believe he was right in thinking it.

"It's not your fault, Harry," Miranda said. "Blame Voldy."

Harry didn't move.

"I'm not working fast enough," Harry said in a muffled voice. "People are getting killed. I'm the only one who can stop him and I'm sitting around here, nice and cozy. And –"

Harry picked his head up.

"Did you just say 'Voldy'?"

Miranda snorted and replied, "Fear of the name increases fear of the thing itself, right?"

Harry said nothing, but stared into space for a good ten seconds before turning back to Miranda and squinting down at the newspaper, on which the Dark Mark was still glittering like a deadly ghost. He pulled his glasses out of his breast pocket and shook his head.

"What are the details?" asked Harry.

Miranda cleared her throat and read,

"Last night at approximately eleven thirty, the Dark Mark was sighted above a mansion in Dufftown. Jacob Smith and his wife, Georgiana Smith were found by the Ministry in the house, both dead. Along with Mr. and Mrs. Smith, their five children, the maid, and several guests were killed. The children appeared to have been savaged, which leads the Ministry to believe that a werewolf, Greyback, was involved. Jacob Smith was a proclaimed anti-Voldemort activist.

"Looks to me like Greyback's really having a hard time resisting children these days," Miranda noted, rolling up the newspaper with a conclusive expression. "He really needs to get a hobby. Or a woman."

"Did somebody say 'Greyback'?"

Severus walked into the kitchen, dressed in his day clothes. Miranda held out the rolled-up paper as he walked by and he took it on his way to the counter. He unrolled it with a snap and read it as he fixed his coffee. He leaned against the counter with a mug in his hand, drinking from his mug with his eyes fixed on the paper. When he finished, he looked thoughtful. He sat down in a chair next to Miranda and said nothing, but fixed her with an icy expression.

"I am not surprised," Severus said, and then added with a faint sneer, "I was under the impression that you were quitting."

Miranda took the lollipop from her mouth, looked at it, shrugged, and popped it back in.

"It's not a good habit, having those all the time," he continued, ignoring Harry.

Miranda raised an eyebrow and waved her hand. Instantly two lollipops came from Severus' jacket pocket and landed in Miranda's outstretched hand. Miranda smiled and Severus scowled.

"Speak for yourself, Sev," Miranda said cheerfully, pocketing the two lollipops.

Severus, feeling slightly awkward, quickly moved on to Harry.

"Potter, listen up," Severus snapped, and Harry jumped at being addressed. "Miranda and myself are in hiding. The keyword here being '_hiding_'. There will be no mischief while you are residing here."

"Yes, sir," said Harry, taking a sip of the orange juice that had appeared in front him when Miranda flicked her finger.

"Also, in public, Miranda and I do not go by our names. To the Muggle society we are known as Seth –" Severus pointed to himself and then to Miranda "– and Maria Simpson."

Harry accidentally snorted his orange juice up his nose.

"Can I be Mr. Burns?" Harry asked innocently, laughing and placing his fingertips together and speaking an imitated voice. "Excellent."

Miranda and Severus shared a quizzical expression and turned back to Harry.

"What's so funny?" Miranda asked.

Harry forced a straight face and quickly finished his juice.

"Nothing," Harry said hastily, standing up, wincing, and hobbling into the sitting room.

Severus and Miranda, both having grown up in a pureblood lifestyle, shared another puzzled expression and shrugged.

"I told you he was insane," Severus said in a matter-of-fact voice, and stalked off to go to work.

Miranda stood alone in the kitchen, still trying to figure out what had just happened.

* * *

A/N: Heh, I love the Simpsons. 


	3. An Emotional Upheaval

A/N: I think I'm just a little too happy about my website, which has recently undergone a makeover. I spent a good hour gloating about it to everyone within a mile radius today and taped the banner to my laptop.

Disclaimer: I own nothing… especially not Harry Potter

Happy Reading!

* * *

**Chapter Three – An Emotional Upheaval **

Though Harry was already starting to feel better, he was not in much better shape. Miranda was funny, nourishing, and still managed to get along with Snape, who was the same tall, grumpy and sardonic man that Harry had learned from. The main difference was what Snape (Severus Snape, who Harry still thought of as just 'Snape' even though there were three Snapes) wore every day. Instead of long black robes Snape wore regular Muggle clothes to work. Harry found this both amusing and slightly frightening, for Snape still had his same long, greasy hair and looked very strange in Muggle clothes. However, as soon as Snape got home every day at exactly four thirty, he would go straight upstairs and change back into his normal attire.

Miranda was a stay-at-home mother, though she occasionally wrote. Most of the time she was bust with Christine, who, as Harry discovered, was far from a spoiled only-child. Christine was, in all actuality, like her mother. Christine didn't attend school like the other kids because of her magical abilities that showed constantly, but Christine had taught herself to read. Apparently, Miranda had a friend named Trish, a Muggle, who stopped by often. This Harry found out in his first week of living with the Snape, or Simpson, family.

Miranda was sitting on the couch with Christine on her lap, and Christine was trying to read from a book. Harry was sitting on the bed, as usual, thinking about the best way to destroy Voldemort. In all actuality Harry had been ready to kill Voldemort, for he had recently destroyed the last Horcrux, but he had gotten injured before he had been able to come up with a good plan. Several people Harry knew had been murdered between now and the time when Dumbledore had escaped death, including Mundungus Fletcher, who had been a casualty in a Death Eater robbing; Susan Bones, who had been killed with the remainder of her family; and finally Charlie Weasley. This last death had happened two years previous, and the entire Weasley family had been devastated. It was during this time when Ginny went to Harry for comfort and Harry had been unable to deny her. They had been together ever since.

The doorbell rang and Miranda looked up.

"Uh oh, I forgot," said Miranda in alarm, moving Christine off her lap and onto the couch.

"What is it?" Harry asked, groping for his wand.

"It's Trish," Miranda said. "I forgot she was coming over. Quickly, Harry, help me hide any magic – she's a Muggle."

Harry and Miranda hid any signs of magic and then Miranda opened the front door. Trish stood there, holding up a record and giggling.

"Hey," Miranda said, throwing the door open enthusiastically. "Come on in."

Trish came into the house and handed Miranda the record. Miranda looked at the record and giggled. Neither of the grown women took notice of Harry as they read the album. Harry watched in confusion as the women laughed and finally jumped up and down together, excitedly flailing the album.

"Put it in, Maria!" Trish exclaimed excitedly, and the women ran into the sitting room.

Trish stopped giggling when she saw Harry sitting there in the bed.

"Who're you?" Trish asked, confused.

"I'm, er," Harry said, and glanced at Miranda, who nodded curtly. "Charles Burns. My friends call me Monty."

Trish laughed and shook Harry's hand.

"Wow, nice name," Trish said. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Burns. What brings you here?"

Harry paused to collect his thoughts. A story quickly formed in his mind.

"I was in a car accident," Harry said calmly. "Burned up my legs and chest."

Trish looked horrified.

"Wow," she breathed. "That's terrible."

Harry shrugged.

"It's not so bad – Maria and Seth helped me."

Trish turned to Miranda with an amused expression. She placed her hands on her hips and grinned mischievously.

"So, Seth _does_ have a heart, then?" Trish said skeptically, and Miranda laughed.

"Shove it, Trish," replied Miranda. "Let's get this started before he gets home."

"Put it in, then!"

Miranda took the record out of its slip and walked over to the record player that sat on a desk. She put the record on and turned back to Trish, who was standing by the foot of Harry's bed. Miranda furrowed her brows.

"Is it track five?"

"Yes."

Miranda nodded and turned around again, fiddling with the record player. When she stepped out, the sounds of a cash register started playing from every direction. Trish sat down on the edge of Harry's bed, smiling. Harry didn't know what the heck this was, but the music was catchy.

"I love your speaker system, Maria," Trish said with a contented sigh. "It's like magic – speakers everywhere, and so well-hidden!"

Miranda winked at Harry, who grinned.

"Money! It's a hit. Don't give me that do-goody-good..." Miranda sang along with the song.

Trish jumped up and they began singing together, laughing and dancing. Christine laughed, too, and climbed over to sit next to Harry. Harry watched, smiling, as the two thirty-eight-year-olds sang and danced to this music. An electric guitar started and Miranda did a headbang. Both Trish and Miranda started playing air instruments and Harry laughed out loud. Christine and Harry both laughed as the two women laughed and whatnot, and the front door opened. Severus stepped inside and when he saw the two women dancing like idiots as well as Harry and Christine laughing, he merely shook his head and rolled his eyes. Miranda pranced over to Severus and put her arms around his neck, laughing. She leaned back and he dipped her, an amused look on his face. Harry was reminded nauseatingly of the only other time he had seen them in this position – only then, he reminded himself, it had probably been an accident.

"Is it Floyd Friday again?" He asked sarcastically as _Us and Them_ came booming out of the magically amplified speakers.

"So smart," Miranda replied as if she was talking to an infant, pinching his cheek.

He arched a brown and dropped her to the floor. He straightened up, dusted his shirt off, and strode into the kitchen, reminding Miranda over his shoulder that it was her turn to cut the grass.

o-o-o

Christmas was drawing near, and one December morning, approximately two weeks from Christmas, Harry was able to successfully stand up for longer than it took to walk to the kitchen. As a celebration, Miranda invited Harry to come with her as she took Christine down the street to learn how to ride a bicycle without training wheels. Harry had happily agreed to tag along, but he wondered whether riding a bicycle in December was safe. When he shared his thoughts with Miranda, she laughed.

"Not to worry, Harry, we haven't even had a frost yet," Miranda assured him, and they strode into the kitchen to see Severus on one knee in front of Christine.

Or, Harry thought, it looked like Christine. Under all the elbow, shin, knee, and wrist pads, a helmet a mouth guard, Christine looked distinctly disgruntled and armored. Severus gave the chinstrap on the helmet a tug and straightened up. Christine whimpered.

"Daddy, it pinches," she moaned, fiddling with the chinstrap.

"Stop complaining," Severus said. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Christine waddled forward and past Miranda and Harry, who were both staring at her. Miranda tore her eyes away from her daughter and looked doubtfully upon Severus.

"Is it all necessary, Severus?" asked Miranda. "We're teaching her how to ride without training wheels, not making her ride motocross."

Severus, who opened his mouth to ask what the bloody hell motocross was, closed his mouth and took a dignified breath, looking more like an overgrown bat than he had since Harry had seen him five years ago.

"Yes, I think so," Severus said. "Get out of here before I change my mind."

Miranda opened her mouth to yell at Severus for ordering her around, but Harry grabbed her sleeve and pulled her outside. She took Christine by the hand, picked up the bicycle, which was charmed feather-light, and they began down the street. Harry limped along, wondering where they were going. Miranda was pointing out different things to Christine, who was listening intently with the attention span of someone thirty years older. They must have looked like an amusing couple with Harry the gimp, Miranda the chatterbox and Christine the padded wonder.

They reached the place where Miranda would be teaching. They sat her on her bike and Christine adapted quite quickly, though she was having a hard time maneuvering with all her armor. Miranda pointed down the street towards a nearby hill.

"Are you ready for that, Christine?" asked Miranda.

Christine grinned and squealed in delight in a way that told Harry she was, in fact, ready.

"Okay," Miranda said. "Let's go."

The trio walked to the top of the street, where there was a hill. The hill was not very steep, but steep enough to be potentially dangerous for a five-year-old. Christine had no such qualms. She hopped on her bike and began pedaling down the hill, a manic glint in her eye that made Harry nervous and Miranda swell with pride.

"Er – be careful!" shouted an anxious Harry, who remembered Dudley's first bike ride; it had not been productive.

This was probably because Dudley's weight, but it also could have been the fact that Harry, who had been incredibly jealous, had given Dudley a little extra push down the hill, which was much like this one. But nobody had pushed Christine. She sped off on her own with a grace that only a witch could have achieved. This grace was, unfortunately, short lived. She swerved halfway down the hill and, being unable to gain control with all her bulky padding, slid the bike sideways. She was flung off and landed with a screech on the street, which she continued sliding down. Miranda and Harry both swore loudly and began chasing after the child. Well, Miranda sped off, but Harry could do no more than begin limping down the street at a very slow pace. Christine rolled and landed with a sob at the feet of a pale, blonde woman. Miranda reached her daughter, nether noticing nor caring that the sole of her left combat boot had become completely detached from the rest of it. The woman, who was cloaked and had been passing by, stopped and dropped to her knees in front of Christine, who was screaming for her mother, and propped her up. When Miranda dropped to her knees in front of the woman and Christine, the woman looked from the child to Christine to the limping Harry, who was not very far down the hill. The woman showed no sign of emotion except for the faint crease between her brows.

"Broken wrist," the woman said quietly. "She will need hospital assistance."

"I can take care of her," Miranda replied hastily, picking up Christine from the ground. "Thanks, though, for the help."

The woman stood and straightened her cloak, still emotionless.

"I daresay you can," the woman said, and strode off.

Harry, at long last, reached the bottom of the hill, panting and clutching a stitch with one hand. In his other hand was the bicycle, which was far less battered than Christine.

"Is she okay?" Harry asked, gazing at the child's many cuts and scratches.

Miranda nodded and stood with her back to Harry. They stood there, back-to-back in the middle of the street, both knowing what they were doing.

"See any Muggles, Harry?" Miranda asked.

"No," replied Harry.

"Good. Apparate to the sitting room. Go!"

They both turned on their heels and vanished on the spot. The pale woman watched from behind a tree as the threesome apparated. A cold, December breeze came through and blew her hood off, releasing her white-blonde hair. The woman then, too, apparated to her manor to alert Lucius that she had finally found Miranda Kent and Harry Potter.

Meanwhile, Miranda and Harry arrived in the sitting room with a simultaneous _crack!_ Miranda was still holding a sobbing Christine, who appeared to hate apparition as much as she had disliked falling, and Harry was still clutching the bike. Christine was wailing, in apparently terrible pain, and Severus stepped in the room to investigate the source of the noise. When he found the place of commotion and saw Miranda holding Christine, who was sporting many injuries, he rushed forward.

"Broken wrist, Severus," Miranda said over the sounds of the screaming Christine. "I'm dead horrible at mending bones."

Severus touched his daughter's arm and it mended instantly. He then picked up Christine from her mother's arms and walked into the kitchen with Miranda and Harry at his heels. Severus sat down the crying child upon the kitchen table and turned back to Miranda, who was white-faced.

"No more bike," Severus said in a dangerous voice. "Not ever."

Miranda's mouth dropped open and Christine cried harder.

"What are you on about?" Miranda exclaimed. "She just fell, that's all! She probably would have been able to steady herself if she hadn't been disabled with all that nonsense padding!"

"She broke her arm!" Severus yelled.

"Yeah, and you fixed it in a second. That's all there's to it!" Miranda yelled back. "You can't keep her locked up forever."

Harry had quietly slipped into the sitting room, undoubtedly so that the family could have this private conversation without intrusion.

Severus and Miranda continued to argue, their voices getting louder and louder until they were both just about screaming. Their arguments were growing redundant.

"You can't keep her from doing dangerous things, Severus!" Miranda protested, appalled at the thought. "She's a human being and has every right to life as you do!"

Severus yelled back, "I'm not letting her get hurt again."

"You're so over-protective!"

"I am not!"

"Yes, you are!"

Severus slammed his fist down on the table, making Christine jump slightly in alarm and cry louder. Miranda clenched her fist so hard that her nails broke the skin of her palm.

"We're going to do as I say, do you hear me?" Severus shouted loudly. "And I say no more damn bike! No more dangerous games!"

Miranda raised a shaking finger towards Severus and he saw that she had a faint trickle of blood from her cut palm running down her wrist. Severus backed off slightly, thinking that she was going to hex him, but she did not. When she spoke, her voice was shaking and lethal, and Severus knew that he had crossed the line. Miranda hated absolutely nothing more than being told what to do, especially when the orders were bad ones.

"I am _not_ going to be arsed by this!" Miranda said in her voice that was far more dangerous than any hex. "You do what you damn well please, alright? But I am _not_ going to be bossed around by you any more! You always do this – you'll lock her up and never let her see the light of day, just like they did to me, but you'll just be glad because she's safe. She's not safe, Severus, not any more than you, or me, or anybody else is safe in this god damned war! So you can do as you like, but don't expect me to be a part of it any more. I'm sick of you and I'm sick of this. I'm leaving."

Severus scoffed as Miranda turned her back on him and headed for the door. She had opened the front door by the time he found his voice.

"You can't leave!" He said harshly, and he instantly knew he had said the wrong thing.

Miranda froze in the doorway and slowly turned around, her eyes full of anger.

"Oh yeah?" She said in a challenging, low voice, pulling her wedding band off her finger and dropping it to the ground, where it made a clanging sound that sounded far distant. "Watch me."

With that, she turned and walked outside, slamming the door behind her.

A ringing silence followed, penetrated only by Christine's sobs. Severus stood frozen where he stood, knowing he had been wrong and that he had gone over the line. Miranda had been right. He understood now why she had felt so strongly about freedom and danger, because she had been forced to hide most of her life and hadn't been able to experience any of the little things that life offered. She had never been able to ride a bike, never went on walks with her mother or faced any simple, five-year-old feats. All these things she wanted to give to her only daughter – the daughter she almost lost in the very beginning and the daughter she was determined not to raise the same way she had been raised.

Severus thought about running after her and apologizing, but his coldness and pride held him in the kitchen like a prisoner. He rubbed his left forearm unconsciously and turned swiftly to dote upon his daughter's abrasions.

Harry, who had heard the entire argument, pulled the sheets over his head and closed his eyes tightly shut. He was not sure who he felt worse for at this point – Snape or Miranda. He feigned sleep and pretended not to hear when Snape went up the stairs with a crying Christine, whose wounds had been healed as quickly as Miranda had said. He tried to fall asleep and pretended he didn't hear when Snape came back down the stairs and stopped in the foyer. He pretended he didn't hear the distinct sound of clothing rustling as Snape sunk down and picked the ring up off the floor. He pretended he didn't hear Snape's shuddery sigh as he climbed the stairs to his room. _How could everything go so wrong in less than five minutes?_ Harry wondered as he rolled over and stared at the ceiling, ignoring the pain that had returned to his legs and chest. He didn't know, but he hoped Miranda would be back by morning.

Miranda was not home by morning, however. In fact, a week and a half passed and she still hadn't returned. This was particularly difficult for Harry because it meant a whole lot more "quality" time with Snape for Healing; Miranda used to be the one to tend to Harry. Snape, however, had become more withdrawn since that cold December day and ignored Harry altogether unless absolutely necessary. Snape still went into work every morning, leaving Christine with Harry. Harry and Christine were very fond of each other. She called him "Uncle Harry", much to Snape's dismay, and Harry often taught her magic, for Christine could do wandless magic. This was because, not the _Progenitor Veneficium_, but merely because her parents were so powerful. Harry told her stories about his years at Hogwarts and about Voldemort, who Christine was always very curious about.

One day, after Harry had managed to get Christine down for a nap (with the help of a nifty sleeping charm) he went in search for something to watch on the Muggle TV. There were some tapes, most of them videos for little kids, but Harry had reached the back and bottom of the pile when he came across a video titled _Wedding Footage_. Harry raised his eyebrows. He knew that it had happened, but he still couldn't picture Snape getting married. Not only that, but he was sure Snape wouldn't be too happy if he came home and saw Harry watching his wedding video. Talk about awkward. Still, the temptation was killing him…

After checking that he had enough time, Harry pulled the video out and dusted it off, then coughed as the dust went up his nose. He stuck the video in the VCR and turned the television on. He pushed the Play button.

The video came into focus. Snape and Miranda sat at a round table together, dressed in wedding apparel. Miranda was beaming and even Snape looked as if he was suppressing a smile. Harry wondered who was holding the camera, but his question was soon answered.

"So," came to voice of McGonagall. "Severus, I never thought I'd see this day, not in a million years."

Snape gave back a snappy retort. McGonagall laughed.

"Yes, well, now that it's taken me an hour to figure out this kiddeo-vamra, what are you two going to do next, now that you're married?"

Miranda propped her feet onto a chair, looking comical in her combination of wedding dress and combat boots. She draped her arm over Snape's shoulder.

"Well, I thought we'd go into hiding. Doesn't that sound like a blast?" Miranda said with energetic sarcasm. "And by the way, Minnie, your dress robes are positively smashing!"

McGonagall laughed and Harry smirked.

"Thank you, Miranda. Yes, it would seem that every Death Eater and even you-know-who himself wants your blood. How does that make you feel?"

"Who are you, Freud?" Snape said, rolling his eyes.

"Who's Freud?"

"Never mind."

A pause ensued, in which McGonagall messed around with the camera a little. Miranda was still smiling all the while, apparently very happy. After a few moments, the camera had been adjusted and McGonagall zoomed up close again.

"So, who is this for?" Miranda asked.

"Well, you two," McGonagall replied. "30 years from now, you and your children will watch this and recall fondly the memories you've all shared."

Miranda snorted. Harry, too, found the comment to be rather cheesy.

"Child, you mean," Miranda said, patting her stomach affectionately.

Snape edged away slightly, bracing for what he knew was coming.

"So this baby, how did it come about, anyway?" McGonagall asked.

Miranda burst out laughing and Snape buried his face in his hands, mortified. Even Harry couldn't help but crack a smile. It seemed that McGonagall was having fun harassing Snape. Harry turned off the video and put it back where he'd found it. The second the TV had been turned of, the front door opened and Snape came in. His old, ripped jacket had a dusty-looking layer of snow, as did his hair.

"Isn't it early, sir?" Harry asked with polite interest.

"Yes," Snape replied quietly. "Quite early."

Without another word, Snape climbed the stairs and a few second later Harry heard the click of the bedroom door. Harry almost preferred the scowling, angry Snape to this new Snape. He couldn't help but feel absolutely terrible for Snape at this point; how could the happy couple in the video be the same two people that he was thinking of? If only they had known what was coming, then, and he hated to think of the beaming smile on Miranda's face or McGonagall saying "30 years from now, you and your children will watch this and recall fondly the memories you've all shared." Harry sighed and flopped to the floor, ignoring the pain that seared through his chest. This was proving to be more difficult than he had imagined.

But no matter how difficult this was for Harry, the ordeal was the hardest on Severus. It was he, not Harry, who had to try and comfort Christine late into the night as she cried for her mother. It was he who was forced to go every day without knowing where his wife was – the only woman he had ever loved. He didn't know what to do, for try as he might, he could not keep his mind off of her. They had never been apart this long. He didn't know what to tell his daughter, either.

A few days before Christmas, a while after Miranda had stormed out into the unknown, Severus was reading to Christine as Harry limped about the kitchen, preparing dinner. Christine slid off the couch and looked at her father sadly. Severus stood and picked her up, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear just as Miranda had done to him what felt like ages ago.

"Daddy, when's Mummy coming home?" Christine asked innocently.

Severus didn't know what to tell her, for he could not answer the question himself. He looked at the girl, who was a spitting image of her mother, and tried to sound confident.

"Soon, I expect," Severus replied quietly. "She just needed some time for herself."

"How come?"

Severus wasn't sure how to explain what had happened between Miranda and him. How was he supposed to explain to his daughter that they had fought because of her? It was not her fault, surely, but the girl was five years old. He opened his mouth to say that he didn't know why when Harry gave a shout from the kitchen, signaling that dinner was ready. Severus sighed, placed Christine down, and gave her a gentle push in the direction of the kitchen, grateful for the first time that Potter was around.

That night, Harry sat in the kitchen, a mug of hot chocolate between his hands. The clock told him the time was just past two A.M., but Harry couldn't sleep. This was not unusual, as the pain associated with his wounds often kept him awake. There was a sound and Snape appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, dressed in nightclothes, which Harry found both strange and disturbing. Harry got up quickly to leave Snape alone but Snape held up a hand.

"You may stay, Potter, it doesn't matter," he said quietly.

Harry shifted uncomfortably and lowered himself back into his chair. Snape crossed the room, sat down across from Harry and put his face in his hands. Harry, not knowing what else to do, summoned a mug of hot chocolate out of nowhere and slid it across the table. Snape looked down at the mug and wrapped his hands around it, welcoming the comfort of the warmth spreading to his cold hands. Harry had not felt so awkward since Arthur Weasley had given him "the talk", which was experience Harry had not had at the Dursley's and one which Harry would have happily forgone. The loathing and tension that usually filled the gap between Harry and Snape was penetrated and replaced by guilt and remorse.

Harry watched as Snape stared down into his mug. He was unshaven and sullen-looking, and Harry thought he looked like a completely different person. Snape moved the mug to the side suddenly and buried his face in his arms. His greasy hair flopped onto the table. Harry prayed to whatever higher power that Snape didn't start crying.

"Women are an interesting species, Potter," Snape said from under his arms. "They're predictable and as touchy as your average blast-ended screwt. Miranda was – _is_ the same. She's fine and happy and optimistic and perfect in times of darkness and doubt. But don't tell her what to do, especially if you're commands are wrong commands."

Harry said nothing. Something inside him was telling him that Snape should be left to get these thoughts off his shoulders.

"I wonder where she is," Snape continued in a muffled voice. "My first guess is at that bloody Muggle Trish's house. I don't know where that is, so I cannot possibly go and fetch her. I think I would know if she had been hurt, for the _Progenitor Veneficium_ would transfer half her magical ability to me, and she wouldn't go down without a fight. The Dark Mark burned the day before yesterday, however, and I cannot pretend that was not unnerving. Even so, it's cold outside."

At this last statement, both Harry and Snape looked in the direction of the kitchen window. Indeed, a light snow had begun falling. They turned and faced each other, both without expression. Harry quickly averted his eyes downwards to his mug, for he could have sworn that he saw the trail on Snape's face that only a tear would have left. He took a long swig of his hot chocolate, embarrassed, and then stared down at the porcelain in his hands.

"She'll come back," Harry said quietly; it was the first he had spoken since Snape's appearance.

Snape did not reply immediately, but took a long time to drink his beverage. Harry ventured another glimpse at his former Potions Master. To Harry, Snape looked like a broken man, a lost man. Snape looked like a man who wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with himself. Snape suddenly stood, pushed in his chair, and vanished his mug.

"Goodnight, Potter," Snape said shortly, mechanically, heading for the door.

"Night, Professor," replied Harry quietly, and Snape was gone.

It took Harry a full minute to realize that he had just had a conversation with his previously hated Potions Professor. A conversation that had not included a single sneer, sarcastic comment, or loathsome thought. Harry sighed and slumped in his chair with a shuddery sigh and a frown on his face.

When Severus reached the top of the stairs he stopped. He stood there for a long time, his hand on the railing, his mind spinning. Where was Miranda? Was she gone? His left hand, the one that was not on the railing, came up and sought a chain around his neck. He pulled the chain from under his shirt and fingered the ring on it – Miranda's ring. Or, at lest, it had been. Severus finally walked into his bedroom and slipped between the sheets on Miranda's side of the bed. He buried his face in her pillow, filling his lungs with her honey scent, and eventually fell into a fitful sleep.

The day of Christmas Eve arrived, and Harry tried to keep the Christmas spirit alive. He conjured a tree out of nowhere and put it in the sitting room. He and Christine decorated the tree, laughed together, and he even picked her up so that she could put a dilapidated star on top of the tree. That night, long after Christine was sound asleep, Snape appeared in the sitting room doorway.

"I require your assistance, Potter," he drawled.

Harry nodded and stood, and together they went to the basement. A mass of magically wrapped gifts stood there in a pyramid shape.

"If you would," Snape said in a sharp voice. "I – lately I've…."

Harry, without further ado, flicked his wand and the gifts soared past them and upstairs to assemble themselves under the tree. Harry knew that Snape had been having trouble doing magic, even with a wand, but it was not surprising. Lupin had told Harry long ago that a great emotional upheaval could sap one of his powers. Harry didn't mention this to Snape and acted as if he hadn't noticed Snape's pathetic attempts at a hovering charm the previous day – he had no desire to face Snape's wrath, whether it be magical or not.

Harry did not wake up to the usual pleasurable warm rays of sunlight across his face, but to something he had not experienced in a long time. It was the feeling of lips on his own. Harry's eyes snapped open and he opened his mouth to tell Christine that even though Christmas and presents were cool, kissing was unnecessary, but Christine was not who he saw.

"Ah, Prince Charming awakes from his slumber!"

"Shut up, Ron."

"I'm not Ron, Ginny, I'm Dock! You must be Grumpy."

"Or Sleazy."

"Sleazy isn't one of the Seven Dwarves, Fred."

"Sorry, Hermione, but I don't read fairy tales."

Harry quickly snatched up his glasses and put them on, and he saw six redheads, two people with brown hair, though one of them had liberal flecks of grey, and one person with violent pink hair.

"Happy Christmas, Harry!" they chorused.

Harry grinned and looked at his wristwatch.

"I didn't know you guys were coming," Harry said, getting out of bed.

He flicked his wand and the bed made itself before turning back into a couch. Everyone stood there, beaming, but Harry's grin slid off his face.

"Snape hasn't come down here yet, has he?" Harry asked, alarmed.

They shook their heads.

"Haven't seen any of them," Ron said, shaking his head. "Not even Miranda, and we thought she'd be down here at the crack of dawn."

Harry took a deep breath and explained the situation at top speed. Everyone looked horrified when Harry finished.

"So she, so she just threw the ring down and left?" Hermione said, flabbergasted.

"Well, no," Harry said hesitantly. "I don't think she threw it – more like dropped it."

George gave a low whistle.

"Blimey, looks like Snape hasn't had much of a Christmas, has he?"

Harry opened his mouth to reply when he heard a scream from upstairs, thunderous footsteps, and then Christine came into view, grinning. She ran into the room and stopped in front of everyone, saw nine pairs of eyes on her, and hid behind Harry, who laughed.

"This," Harry said, pulling Christine out from behind him, "is Christine."

Christine tugged on Harry's sleeve and looked up at him, frightened.

"Who are they?" whispered Christine as if nobody but Harry could hear. "They don't look like Death Eaters."

Everyone laughed, but Christine marched up to Tonks and pointed at her, turning her head back towards Harry.

"Cept this one, Uncle Harry," Christine said in a serious voice. "She's got spikes in her hair." She turned back to Tonks, who was trying to keep a straight face. "Let me see your arm. Your –"

She turned her head to Harry, who whispered "left" and gestured to his left arm. Christine swiveled her head back to Tonks and went back to her serious voice.

"Your left arm. Please," She added as an afterthought.

Tonks laughed and replied, "Well, since you asked so nicely."

Tonks pulled back her left sleeve and revealed a perfectly normal wrist. Christine dropped her serious demeanor quickly and smiled.

"Okay," she said. "You're okay. Who are you, anyway?"

Everyone laughed.

"I'm Tonks," Tonks said kindly. "This is Molly and Arthur. Fred and George. Remus –"

"I know him!" Christine shouted, suddenly remembering. "And you! And you!" She pointed to Ron and Hermione. "And… hey!"

Christine gave a shriek as she saw Ginny and jumped over to the redhead. Christine growled at Ginny, teeth bared, and Ginny did the same in return. Christine laughed and hugged Ginny around the legs.

"I remember you," she said. "You were here when Uncle Harry came. Mummy was –"

Christine suddenly stopped and backed off at the thought of her mother, her expression suddenly sad. She ran over and hugged Harry, who picked her up and patted her uncertainly on the back, looking uncomfortable.

"Er…" Harry began, but Snape suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?"

Everyone turned around to see Snape, dressed, as usual, in his day apparel. Everyone greeted Snape, some variations of "hello" being "Hello Severus," from the adults and "Hello, Professor," from the former students. Snape stood, looking dumbstruck, until his eyes landed on Harry, who shrugged defensively to say "I didn't invite them". He took a deep breath and assumed the greasy, professor-like manner he had so long portrayed.

"Yes, well since you're here, sit down all of you," Snape said, raising a hand. "I'll, oh, er –"

"I've got it, sir," Harry said hastily, conjuring up a dozen armchairs. "Why don't you go and get breakfast ready, sir?"

"Thank you, Potter, I shall."

Harry, with one last glance at Snape as he strode into the kitchen, began talking to the guests about their lives, glad that he had, at least, managed to cover up Snape's inability to do magic. He only hoped the rest of the day would wield a fewer number of surprises.

* * *

A/N: I was going to make this chapter longer, but I thought ten pages was long enough of a chapter for today. Next chapter soon, possibly. If not before Saturday, then not for a week, as I'm going to be away for a while. Adieu! 


	4. Proposing

A/N: Erg, I'm beginning to rethink my plan of pulling an all-nighter. Anyway, I think this'll be the last chapter for a week or more, because I'm leaving on vacation.

Disclaimer: I own nothing… especially not Harry Potter

Happy Reading!

* * *

**Chapter Four – Proposing**

Molly rushed off after Severus to assist with breakfast and talk to him. Everyone else settled down happily enough, drinking beverages that Harry pulled from thin air and chatting. They opened gifts as they talked, and Harry received several interesting gifts, including a dead mouse from Hedwig, who was staying with Ron, and _Defending the Defensive_, a book about (what else?) defense against the dark arts from (who else?) Hermione. Soon, Molly had finished breakfast and everybody ate, and they were all settling down to talk about the weather when the doorbell rang. The room fell silent, for nobody else had been scheduled to drop by. Remus grabbed up his wand and stood up, accompanied by Ron and Harry, who pulled their wands from their jeans. Christine was sent into the kitchen and ordered not to leave until told to do so.

Severus stood and walked to the door, imagining all sorts of horrible scenes in his mind in which Ministry workers told him that they had found Miranda, dead in the streets. He knew this was impossible, for everyone thought he was dead, but the thought was still there. He opened the door, expecting to see something random, like a mailman or maybe a Death Eater. He opened the door and saw, not a Ministry worker, a Death Eater or even the mailman. It was Miranda. She stood at the door with a large box in her hands. Her boots were almost completely destroyed and she herself looked like a wreck, with her hair a mess and her clothes dirty. Severus and Miranda stared at each other, he looking faintly surprised and she looking like she might fall to pieces. Ron and Hermione exchanged stunned expressions. Molly sought Arthur's hand and held it tight. Remus didn't seem to notice that his glass of Butterbeer was overflowing onto his hand. The room was filled with a screaming silence.

"Severus," Miranda said in a sickly quiet voice. "You were right. I can't leave. I haven't been able to do magic since I left –"

Tonks gave Remus a pointed look at this statement and Remus realized that he was still pouring from the Butterbeer bottle.

"– and I wanted to come back, Severus, but I was too proud and too ashamed of what I said to you. But you were right. I can't leave, Severus, I love you too much and –"

Miranda's monologue was cut off as she found herself wrapped in a suffocating embrace. She dropped the box to the floor and hugged him back, tears falling freely from her eyes.

"And I thought you wouldn't want me anymore," she finished tearfully.

"What?" Severus said in disbelief, his brows furrowed. He pulled away and took her head in his hands, then rested his forehead on hers, their eyes connected. "I love you, you idiot."

"Ah, Sev," Miranda said wistfully, and then he kissed her.

Harry was so elated that things were coming back together that he forgot to be disgusted with his ex Professors, who were kissing in the doorway. Ron looked faintly sick and Hermione had a crooked grin on her face, as if she was trying not to smile. Fred and George exchanged mock lovey-dovey expressions and got a whack in the back of the head by their mother. A loud shriek pulled the reunited couple apart.

"Mummy!"

It was Christine, who had evidently decided that she was sick of waiting in the kitchen. Miranda dropped to her haunches and her daughter threw herself in her mother' arms. Miranda picked up Christine and hugged her tight, then waved a finger at the box, which levitated off the ground and shot up the stairs. Miranda took Severus' hand while holding up Christine with the other and joined the festivities, beaming as she had in her wedding video. Shortly after this tearful reunion, however, the doorbell rang again. Severus and Miranda exchanged quizzical expressions.

"Did you invite anybody?" Severus asked, brows furrowed, and Miranda hit her forehead with the heel of her palm.

"Oh, I forgot!" she exclaimed. "I invited Trish over for Christmas _ages_ ago! She's – uh oh."

Severus and Miranda, as well as Harry, who knew what was going on, jumped up.

"Hide any traces of magic," Harry ordered. "It's a Muggle friend from the town."

Instantly, as if it had been rehearsed, everyone rose to the occasion, hiding traces of magic and gifts that littered the floor. After wrestling a trick wand from a protesting Christine, the house was ready. It had only been a few seconds. Miranda backed off to the door and unlocked it to show Trish that she was coming. She cast a silencing spell on the door so that Trish could not overhear what Miranda said. She pointed to herself, then Severus, and finally Harry.

"Maria Simpson, Seth Simpson, Monty Burns," Miranda said quickly as she pointed to the appropriate people. "We're Muggles from the States and you're all visiting. Got me?"

Everyone nodded and Miranda opened the door. Trish stood there, holding a gift and grinning broadly, but her eyes popped open at the sight of the large crowd. She came inside and stared at Miranda.

"Back with _him_, are you?" Trish said, nodding towards Severus, who pursed his lips. "Who are all you people?"

"They're friends from the States," Miranda replied, taking Trish's jacket and hanging it up. "They stopped by for the holidays."

Trish surveyed the group for a moment before giving her bony chin a nod of approval.

"So, what state are you all from?"

Instantly, answers came from every which direction.

"California!"

"Puerto Rico!"

"Milwaukee!"

"Wisconsin!"

"Connecticut!"

"Yes!"

"Kansas!"

Trish stepped back, blinking and alarmed. The room fell silent and George gave Ginny a strange look, for she was the one who had said "yes" instead of saying anything that had to do with the States. Then Trish laughed.

"Wow, a diverse bunch, are we? Well let' get this party going, then!"

Everyone breathed again and Trish assimilated. As the party went on, Miranda wasn't sure what was better to see, Fred and George slamming Ron's face into the casserole or Trish recklessly hitting on Ron, all the while being watched by a dignified Hermione while Ron tried to get out of his situation. The best part for Miranda, besides being reunited with her family, was unwrapping her present from Severus. It was a pair of brand spanking new dragon-hide combat boots – combat boots that were the same exact design of the ones she was wearing on her feet at the time, through which her black and red striped socks were clearly visible.

Later that night, when the guests had left and Harry had finished scraping the remainder of the frosting from the walls and Christine was asleep, Miranda and Severus sat together on the bed in total silence. He reached up and pulled a chain from around his neck, unhooked it, slid Miranda's ring off, and threw the chain aside. He took her hand and slid the ring back on in its rightful place.

"You'll be wanting this back, I presume?" said Severus as he slid the ring on her finger.

Miranda smiled sheepishly before whispering, "I got something for you."

She rolled across the bed and picked up the box that she had entered the house with. She carried it back over to Severus and placed it down in front of him. He looked inside and then laughed aloud. He reached into the box and pulled out a pair of big, black combat boots, ones that were a different design than Miranda's but combat boots all the same.

"Of course," he said. "I should have known."

"And this," added Miranda, reaching into the box and pulling out something black.

Severus took it from her and laid it out so that he could see what it was. It was like a jacket, only much longer and more durable-looking. Severus could tell that it was made from dragon hide.

"It's a trench coat," Miranda stated the obvious. "It's the closest thing you'll get to a cloak in the Muggle world, and people wear them, too. Muggles wear them like cloaks, see, and you can wear it until we come out of hiding. See? It even billows!"

She had gotten to her feet and pulled the coat on over her pajamas. She spun around in the coat, which was far too big for her, and laughed as it billowed. Severus leaned back and sighed contentedly.

"Looks good on you," he said, closing his eyes in exhaustion.

Miranda laughed and pulled the cloak off, then threw it into the air, where it magically hung itself in the closet. Neither Miranda nor Severus had been able to do magic in the last few days, which showed a definite mark in the strength of their feelings toward one another. Yawning, Miranda crawled into bed and lay down. She snapped her fingers and the lights went out. They laid there in silence for a while before she rolled over and faced her husband.

"I'm sorry I stormed out on you," Miranda said quietly. "I was stupid."

"No, you were right and I was wrong. I admit it. Locking up Christine from living her life isn't keeping her any safer." There was a pause, followed by, "Come here."

He reached out in the dark and pulled her closer to him, enveloping her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his ribcage and pressed her face against his chest. She listened to the rhythm of his heartbeat before speaking again.

"Do you remember the first conversation we had?" said Miranda.

"Of course," Severus replied. "I couldn't forget if I tried. It was raining. You said that you hoped you weren't bothering anybody – you were so polite."

"And you said that I was bothering somebody, undoubtedly referring to yourself, if I am correct."

Severus laughed quietly and she smiled softly, her eyes closed.

"Undoubtedly," replied Severus, holding Miranda tighter. "I was so stern with you."

"Are you not still?" Miranda said. "Like you said back then, I apparently can't take care of myself."

Severus sighed slowly, listening to her breathing and taking in her scent.

"Happy Christmas, Sev?" it sounded more like a question than a wish.

"Yes," replied Severus, and he was asleep for the first time in days.

o-o-o

A thick curtain of snow was falling past the window as Miranda and Molly sat in the sitting room. Harry was out and about with Christine, playing in the backyard while Severus was working. Molly was attempting to teach Miranda how to knit, which she was proving slow at.

Miranda held up a lumpy-looking piece of fabric.

"How's this?" Miranda asked cheerfully, brandishing her multi-colored sweater.

"You're getting there," Molly replied with a chuckle. "There's only one way to improve and that's to practice."

Miranda looked from the sweater to Molly, who was also knitting, and burst into laughter. Molly laughed, too, and paused to wipe a tear of mirth before continuing her work. Miranda watched in awe as the older woman knitted. Her fingers were moving rapidly with the needles, working with the fabric to form something new. Then again, Miranda thought, with having had seven children, practice was inevitable. Even without Charlie around, which was a subject that nobody liked to mention.

"I wish I could have more kids," Miranda said after a silence, staring at Molly's hands as she worked.

Molly paused in her knitting and looked at Miranda.

"And you can't because of the _Progenitor Veneficium_?"

Miranda nodded. Molly well knew of the charm, but didn't speak of it often. She appeared to be thinking hard, her fingers looking as if they were flying over the thread and needles.

"Well," Molly said. "Can you adopt?"

"I'm not sure," said Miranda slowly. "Something would probably happen to the kid because of the whole 'one kid' coincidence thing. I wish I could change the spell, or even get rid of it."

"Would you really want to get rid of it?" Molly said slowly. "All that power… gone. I could understand how you feel, of course, having had seven children…"

There was another, more lingering silence.

"How did you manage it, Molly? Raising all those kids."

Molly chuckled.

"Lots of work," Molly replied. "Thanks to magic, we had some help. I wouldn't have been able to do it if I was a Muggle – they have to buy all their food, can you believe it?"

"Trust me, I can," replied Miranda, who had a thing for the deli section of the Muggle grocery store. She paused yet again, deep in thought, and then added, "I think I'll write a Muggle story. It'll be about a woman who can do magic and she's hiding from a Dark Lord. She goes to a magic school and meets this really obnoxious Potions Professor. How does that sound?"

Molly, laughing, replied, "It'll never sell."

Miranda and Molly both laughed together, and then Severus came into the room.

"Did somebody say 'really obnoxious Potions Professor'?" he said, crossing the room and sitting down next to Miranda, who was still laughing. He looked at the needles and lumpy sweater in her hands and sneered, "What the hell is that?"

Miranda poked it with her finger and it turned back to thread on a roll. She handed it to Molly, who was standing and preparing to leave.

"It's nothing," Miranda replied hastily, handing the roll over to Molly. "Here you go Molly, thanks for the lesson."

"Anytime, Miranda," Molly replied, taking the roll and needles. "But now I have to meet Arthur – he said something about a request from Harry."

Molly, whose eyes were sparkling, looked up and saw Harry standing in the doorway, covered with snow. When Harry heard this, he turned red and walked back out into the kitchen and outside into the backyard, where he had been teaching Christine to levitate snowballs and make them fly around to hit people. Miranda and Molly shared an expression.

"Did he ask permission to propose?" Miranda asked, ignoring the expression on Severus' face.

"I think it was more for permission to give her a promise ring," Molly replied quietly, smiling. "He doesn't want to make a commitment in case he – well, in case the worst should happen. But they _are _crazy for each other. They're still in contact with one another. I'm not sure how, but they are. Has she been stopping by?"

"Not that I know of," Severus interjected calmly. "Though I presume Potter realizes that he's not to have any women over."

Miranda snorted and punched him in the shoulder. Molly rose up, bid her goodbyes, and apparated out of the house. When the Weasley mother had left, Miranda turned to Severus and grabbed his hand.

"Come on, let's see what they're doing outside."

Severus grudgingly obliged, not liking the winter weather. They went outside and the second he had closed the sliding door, Severus was hit in the side of a face with a huge snowball.

"Who threw that?" Severus spun around, seething.

Christine and Harry exchanged anxious looks before pointing at one another, both trying to look more innocent. Severus scowled as Miranda laughed, picked up a snow ball, and threw it. It hit Harry squarely in the face, spattering his glasses with water and snow. Before Severus could say "What the -?" Miranda, Harry and Christine were having a vicious fight. Snowballs were flying everywhere, passing each other in midair and striking the house, the trees, and Severus. After about a minute, everyone had ganged up and was throwing snowballs solely at Severus. Fed up with being the target, Severus waved his hand in the air. A dozen or so snowballs formed from the ground and hurdled themselves at the others. Miranda shrieked and dove behind Harry, who got hit for the umpteenth time in the face. A large snowball hit Christine, who topped over backwards, laughing. Having been satisfied with his handiwork, Severus turned swiftly and headed back for the house. Just as he reached out to grab the handle, he was hit in the back of the head with another snowball.

"I'm going to ignore that," Severus said tersely, not turning around. "Until later, Potter. I recommend, however, that you watch your back."

With that, Severus entered the house. He realized then just how cold he was. Shivering, he headed for the shower.

After he finished his shower, he was running a comb through his unruly hair when he heard movement in his bedroom. He opened the door a bit and poked his head out to see Miranda sitting in bed, writing furiously on a clipboard.

"What are you doing?"

He stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in a dry set of trousers. Severus watched her as she wrote, all the while working a belt through the loops. Miranda looked up briefly, a pencil behind her ear, and then went back to her paper.

"Writing," was her reply.

Severus rolled his eyes and strode over to her, hooking his belt through the metal clasp and pulling it tight. After an unsuccessful attempt at reading the paper, for she leaned across it, he rolled his eyes and picked up a shirt from the laundry pile.

"I can see that," Severus said shortly. "What are you writing?"

"My life story," she replied. "I'll make millions."

He chuckled darkly and stood in front of the full-length mirror that stood in the corner of the room, eyeing his pale reflection.

"Am I going to be in it?"

"Of course."

His reflection stared back at him with the same expressionless face. Miranda looked up again from her paper at him and slid from the bed. She walked over and stood beside him, looking at him through his reflection.

"What's wrong, Sev?" Miranda asked.

Severus raised a brow.

"You mean besides you calling me 'Sev' when I've told you a million times not to?"

"Yes."

He shrugged and went back to examining his reflection, taking in everything from his pale chest to his hooked nose. Being greasy and mean had not been easy growing up, nor was it easy now. More respect ensued now, after much hard work, but he never found his appearance to be ideal.

"Are you making said autobiography realistic?" Severus asked.

"Yes." Miranda looked at Severus' reflection suspiciously before she said anything. "Let me guess," she mused. "You don't want for me to describe you as you are – you want to be some buff, tanned, silky-haired guy, right?"

He shrugged one shoulder.

"You're exaggerating," Severus said. "But I wouldn't mind if you failed to mention how greasy I am. I really am sick of being greasy."

Miranda tried not to laugh and succeeded in looking kind of twisted.

"Severus, if we somehow only existed in a fictional storybook and our lives were being moved along by some woman and being continued on the side by an aspiring, cracked-out-on-no-sleep starving artist, I'm sure you'd have a huge fan base."

Severus made a disbelieving noise.

"No, I'm serious!" Miranda said. "You'd be right up there with Sirius and Remus!"

"And why is that?"

Miranda stepped behind him and stood on tiptoe to wrap her arms around his neck and put her chin on his shoulder. They stared at each other through their reflections.

"You're very interesting," she said. "And sexy."

He laughed and pushed her away.

"Shut up," he said seriously, though a smile was on his lips.

He pulled his shirt on and followed his laughing wife out the door and down into the kitchen.

The next morning, everyone in the house awoke with a frightful cold. The house was filled with coughing, sneezing, vomiting and, of course, complaining. Severus was forced to call out sick from work when he couldn't get up in the morning and Christine didn't posses the strength to call Harry 'Uncle Harry'. Harry had the most violent sneezes, and his weak legs would occasionally give out when he sneezed. Miranda whipped up a cauldron of temperature-dropping potion in the sitting room and everyone had a share of it. Though everyone felt a little better, the symptoms were still there and had to be waited out. Miranda had conjured up three cots in the sitting room so that they could quarantine themselves together, but mostly they lounged around on the couches and chairs.

Two days after the sick ordeal had started, Miranda was sprawled out on an armchair, upside down. She watched Severus, who was wearing his old robes and sleeping on the floor where he had dropped an hour before. Harry was reading, occasionally reaching over and grabbing a tissue from the box, and Christine was at the foot of Harry's bed, sleeping on her face. Christine suddenly lifted her head and looked at Miranda.

"Mummy?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you paint my nails?"

Miranda looked at the ceiling for a moment or two before hoisting herself up and turning around in the chair.

"Sure, why not?"

Miranda slid off the chair and onto the ground beside Severus, who was still sleeping with his mouth slightly agape. He alone had objected to staying in the sitting room because Harry was there, but he had just ignored Harry as usual. Harry wasn't complaining. At the moment, he was asleep on the floor and his breathing was wheezy. Christine got to the floor as well and Miranda conjured up some deep red nail polish.

"What color do you want?" Miranda asked.

"Green," replied Christine, smiling.

Miranda laughed slightly.

"Are you sure?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. When Christine nodded, she laughed, "Heh, alrighty then, whatever you want."

Miranda was through with Christine's nails and had magically dried them by the time Severus awoke. He sat up suddenly, causing the little brush in Miranda's hand to jerk and slide over her finger. She cursed and righted her paint. Severus watched her for a moment before his eyes darted to Harry, who had fallen asleep with his book still open on his lap.

"What are you doing?" Asked Severus, eyeing Miranda apprehensively.

"Painting my nails," replied Miranda calmly, spreading a coat over her thumbnail.

"Oh," Severus said dully, then went back to staring at Harry, who had begun to drool in his sleep. "I was thinking."

"Fancy that," Miranda interjected casually.

Severus chose to ignore this last comment and kept talking.

"And do you remember that potion we made to block the _Avada Kedavra_?"

"Of course," Miranda replied.

Miranda and Severus had worked together and invented the only potion to ever successfully block the _Avada Kedavra_, the killing curse. It had taken them a long time and Severus had tested it out on himself to fake his death so that he could live freely. In fact, for a few moments, Miranda was sure that the potion had failed and Severus had died. Severus interrupted her dark thoughts with a most interesting statement.

"I want to try and combine it with the remedy," Severus said, picking up the green bottle of nail polish and inspecting it without real interest; he really just didn't want to look Miranda in the eye for this. "I think that if we combined the two, it wouldn't require another person to manually bring the 'killed' person around." He paused, reflecting on his own words before adding, "What do you think?"

Miranda leaned her head to one side, and slowly to the other, as if she was weighing the information and the possibilities. In her mind she went over the properties and the effects of each potion.

"So," Miranda said, her eyes closed tightly as she was thinking. "So we add them together, right? Wouldn't there be a chemical reaction that gets rid of the protecting part of the potion?"

"Yes," he said slowly. "But I think that I know the correct composition that can preserve both sides, so that the protection comes first and the waking part comes after."

Miranda nodded thoughtfully, then raised a suspicious eyebrow at Severus.

"What's the purpose for this again?"

Severus fidgeted with the hem of his robes for a moment, not looking at Christine, who was now trying to read the dictionary.

"Well," he said slowly. "It's really only a matter of time before we're found out. Potter's in more danger than any of us," his eyes darted to Harry, who was developing a drool spot on his shirt, "and if the Dark Lord gets Christine, then, well…" his voice trailed into nothing.

Miranda snorted.

"Severus, I was thirty-three when Voldemort tried to kidnap me. Isn't Christine a little young to be carrying children?"

Severus looked up, his expression spiteful.

"You don't know the Dark Lord like I do," Severus said in a low voice so that Christine could not hear, though she was currently immersed in her dictionary. "His motto is much like Greyback's: capture them when they're young and raise them to do his bidding. When she's old enough he will waste no time – and by then she'll have probably been brainwashed into a slave or a Death Eater." At Miranda's incredulous face he added, "Trust me. The Dark Lord tells nobody anything, but if anybody knew what was going on, I knew the most. I assure you."

"Daddy?" Christine appeared from over the top of her massive dictionary.

Severus turned his eyes upon his daughter.

"I thought you said babies came from the Stork."

Miranda and Severus shared an open-mouthed glance before turning back to Christine.

"Er," Severus stammered. "They do. What makes you think otherwise?"

Christine prodded the dictionary before her.

"Webster."

Severus opened his mouth to reply when a terrible pain coursed through his arm. He jumped up, clutching his left forearm, and Miranda jumped up as well. The sudden movement and the yelp of pain from Severus caused Harry to wake up, looking alarmed.

"Is it the Mark?" Miranda asked worriedly.

"Yes," Severus replied, pulling back his sleeve and examining the skull and serpent that burned black on his arm. "We must begin work on this potion as soon as possible."

"I agree," Miranda replied, her features becoming dark.

o-o-o

That night, Miranda woke up with another fever. She groaned and rolled out of bed, then hurried off in the direction of the bathroom to get herself some fever-lessening potion. Seeing as the potion was in the downstairs bathroom where Harry could easily access it, she walked down the stairs and into the dark bathroom, which was at the end of the hallway at the bottom of the stairs. She walked into the bathroom and stepped in something wet. She groaned.

"Dammit, Christine," Miranda whispered angrily to herself. "I thought I told her to put the curtain _in_ the shower when the faucet was turned on."

Miranda took another step in the water, slipped, and fell. She stood up, grumbling and soaking wet, and groped around for the light switch on the wall. When she found it she flicked it on, and then stifled a scream. She was not standing in water, but blood. Sprawled out on the ground, unconscious and bleeding from the head, was Harry.

* * *

A/N: I am _so_ out of here. 


	5. The Smarmy Git

A/N: I have a bowl of radishes and I'm ready to write. That's thinkin' food, that is!

Disclaimer: I own nothing… especially not Harry Potter

Happy Reading!

* * *

**Chapter Five – The Smarmy Git **

"Severus!" Miranda yelled, horrified at the bloody sight before her. "Severus!"

Moments later, loud footsteps could be heard as Severus ran down the stairs and down the hall. He turned sideways with the intention of stopping in front of the bathroom but overshot and skidded past the door. There was a loud _thud_ and Severus appeared in the doorway moments later, rubbing the side of his head.

"Wuzzamatter?" he asked groggily, peering around.

His eyes went from Miranda, who was covered in blood, to the unconscious and equally as bloody mass that was Harry. Eyes narrowed, he stared at Harry for another moment before splashing over through the puddle of blood and sinking to his knees in front of Harry. After poking and prodding a bit, he healed the nasty gash on the back of Harry's head.

"Wake up, Potter," said Severus, giving Harry a sharp poke in the temple.

Harry opened his eyes warily and looked around. Miranda splashed over and dropped to one knee beside Severus, her eyes on Harry.

"What happened, Harry?" asked Miranda.

Severus pulled out a leaf from his pocket and gave it to Harry, who, upon realizing it was dittany, ate it. Miranda watched Severus with a glint in her eye. He was so, well, _geeky_. She herself had been labeled as 'geeky' back in school, and she knew Severus had been as well. Except for his, well, geeky knowing of all things dark and dangerous… and how to use them. She grinned at him, but he didn't return the smile as he was working with Harry. Miranda turned to the 'Chosen One', who looked genuinely confused.

"Sneezed," Harry said blearily, munching on the dittany leaf. "Knees gave out – damn burns – slipped backwards on some water." Miranda thought Harry sounded (and looked) like he'd consumed a whole barrel of firewhiskey. "Must have hit my head 'cos I blacked out." There was an uneasy pause, in which Harry sneezed and slid an inch backwards on the wet floor. Then, as an afterthought, "Sorry."

Miranda laughed and siphoned away the blood and water with a casual flick of her wrist.

"No harm done, Harry. Except perhaps the loss of a few brain cells from hitting your head – nothing you need to survive in this world," said Miranda cheerfully, crossing her legs and sitting down in a more comfortable position next to Harry, who was leaning against the wall like a drunkard. Miranda supposed being knocked unconscious could do that to you and gave herself a mental note never to offer Harry anything that was stronger than Butterbeer. "You should have seen, this one time Severus –"

She cut off to send a smirk in her husband's direction, but he had gotten up and left already.

"Severus? Oh, never mind. Harry, you best get to bed – you look like you've been knocked unconscious. Not that you need any more sleep, eh?"

After Harry had gotten up and walked into the sitting room, Miranda pranced up the steps and into her room, no longer tired, and saw that Severus was already back in bed with the covers pulled over his head. She smirked and hopped onto the bed, taking no care in being quiet. She pulled the covers off his head to find a grumpy and exhausted Severus trying desperately to sleep.

"Tired, Sev?"

He grunted in reply. She took a section of his greasy hair and began braiding it.

"What're you doing?" He groaned, burying his face in his pillow. The muffled sound of his voice added, "I'm trying to sleep."

"I'm braiding your hair."

"Why?"

Miranda paused, thinking. Shrugging, she continued her braid.

"I dunno. Bored, I guess," said Miranda.

Severus gave a dignified growl. He sat up and glared at Miranda, who laughed at the sight of the braid that she had made. After realizing that his death glare just didn't work on his wife, he turned his back to her and pulled the covers over his head once more. Miranda shrugged and lay down beside him, tucking herself next to him and putting an arm around him. In this position, she delivered a bone-crushing hug. He said nothing at first, but was forced to after a moment or so.

"You're suffocating me."

"Am I?" Miranda asked nonchalantly. "So sorry. Can't help myself."

"That makes you a clingy pain in the arse," Severus said snappishly, putting his pillow over his head and holding it there.

"No," retorted Miranda, smirking. "That makes _you_ a smarmy git."

-

The next day proved to be just as sickly as the others. Miranda paid dearly for her adrenaline rush the previous night by being too exhausted to move from the couch. She was forced to, however, when she ran to the bathroom to throw up. During this rather distasteful time, Severus followed her and held her hair back as she regurgitated her breakfast.

Harry and Christine slept most of the time, sprawled out on his bed in the sitting room. During the day, the four sicklings quarantined themselves in the sitting room and relaxed. Sometimes they played cards, but Severus mysteriously always won, so the game lost its luster fast.

Most of the time things were peaceful, with the exception of the time Miranda and Harry had a small squabble over who got the toilet when both of them were on the verge of puking.

One particularly nice day, Severus was lying in his usual spot on the floor. Harry and Christine were, as usual, sleeping, and Miranda was sitting with her back propped up against the settee, staring at Severus with a vacant expression. He suddenly sat up as if in alarm and she jumped. She crawled over on all fours and set herself down in front of him, her headache making her slightly dizzy.

"You alright, Sev?" she asked weakly, her head spinning.

He gave a slight jerk of the head, eyes closed and lips pursed. The shadows around his eyes were more prominent than usual, what with him being sick. He suddenly leapt to his feet and darted off in the direction of the bathroom, a hand clapped to his mouth. Miranda got to her feet, swayed slightly, and chased after him. He dropped down in front of the toilet and promptly threw up. Feeling slightly queasy, Miranda pulled his hair away from his face and held it back for him.

"Nothing brings two people like a good virus, eh Severus?" She said in a slightly sarcastic voice.

He lurched again and, after a few seconds, reached up and flushed the toilet. She let go of his hair as he stood and summoned a cleansing mint from the medicine cabinet. After popping it into his mouth he stalked out of the bathroom, looking distinctly ill-tempered, which, Miranda thought, was surely a sign of recovery.

-

Draco Malfoy, flanked on either side by a Death Eater, was half lead and half carried into the Dark Lord's chamber. He was dropped before Voldemort's throne to see a man that he hadn't seen in years: his father. Lucius had a look of shock written on his face as he stared at his son, but made no other motions of recognition. Draco had a bead of sweat trailing down his pointed nose as he crawled across the floor and kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes.

"My Lord, I have waited long years to return to you," Draco said in a low voice, trying not to beg for mercy from the half-human that could easily kill him.

"Young Draco," said the icy voice that belonged to the most feared wizard of all time, sending terrible chills down Draco's spine. "Have you been hiding from me?"

"N-no! No, my Lord, I would never. I was kidnapped by the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore himself," lied Draco, carefully using Occlumency and making it look as if he was not.

"I do not believe you," Voldemort spat. "However…"

"Yes, my Lord?" Draco stammered nervously, picking himself up off the floor and onto his knees.

There was a rustle of a cloak and Draco felt the icy touch of the Dark Lords fingers on his chin. His head was forced up and he was made to look upon Voldemort, though he did not want to. And he had thought that, finally, he would be safe. He had been wrong

"My dear Draco, I have a job for you, a chance to redeem yourself," Voldemort said in his silky calm voice, his red eyes glinting in the shadow of his hooded cloak.

"My Lord, it would be an honor –" Draco began, but he was cut off when the Dark Lord grasped Draco around the neck with one strong hand, razor-sharp nails cutting into his flesh. Draco fought back an anguished cry.

"You will not mess this up, Draco," Voldemort said, picking up a struggling Draco by the neck.

"No, my Lord," choked Draco, trying not to fight the talon-like grip. Everything was going fuzzy.

"If you do, Draco, I will have your life."

Draco felt the Dark Lord release him and he fell to the ground, clutching his throat. Upon drawing his hands back, he saw that they were stained with blood – his blood. He bowed low so that Voldemort would not see the tear escape from his eye and drip off his pointed nose.

"Yes… Master."

-

By the following week, everyone had been cured of the nagging illness. Severus returned to work and Harry began self-defense training with Miranda. Miranda found this to be refreshing and oddly amusing, for she had taken the same exact lessons with Severus just a few years ago when she was hidden at Hogwarts.

"Here now, Harry, bend your knee like this."

"Er…"

"Yes, just like that. Excellent," she said to Harry, who was standing beside her.

Christine sat with a large bucket of popcorn, watching the training session as if it was a show or something of the sort, her legs barely long enough to jut out from the settee on which she sat. Harry was just about perfectly healed now, at long last, and he was trying to regain some of his lost muscle mass through training.

Training had been Miranda's idea, as being able to fight without magic had saved her life (and dignity) the last time she had faced Voldemort. Harry was doing well thus far. They had covered the art of bojustsu with ninja sticks, as Miranda called them, and nunchucks, which Christine took great joy in flinging around.

Severus opened the front door to see Harry sitting on the ground, having just been defeated in one-on-one combat with Miranda. He smirked. Miranda helped Harry to his feet, handed him a lollipop, and then crossed the room to greet Severus.

"G'day mate," she said cheerfully, hugging him tightly around the middle.

He banished his briefcase to his study with the flick of his wrist and eyed Miranda warily.

"Why are you talking like that?" He said, staring down his hooked nose at her.

She shrugged and pulled him by the hand into the sitting room.

"Come on, Severus, you've got to teach Harry how to fight," Miranda said.

"Can't you?"

"No, I don't know how to, you know… knife."

"Ah, of course. Fine, then." He turned to Harry, who stood and pocketed his lolly. "Potter, can you use a stiletto?"

Harry's eyes flickered over towards Miranda, who had taken a seat next to Christine and was helping herself to the bucket of popcorn. Bemused, Harry cast his gaze back on his stern ex-professor.

"Er, no, Sir. I've never tried before, I mean, aren't they for, well… girls?"

Severus strode over to the nearby desk and took out a ruby-encrusted dagger-looking weapon, sheathed in a decorated case. He tossed it to Harry, who barely managed to catch it.

"Here, Potter, have a stiletto."

Harry unsheathed the stiletto and examined it. It was truly a beautiful thing; it had a polished, thin four-sided blade and was strangely light for all its metal. He wondered vaguely if it was magicked feather-light.

"Cool," said Harry whimsically, admiring the blood red glint of the rubies.

Severus rolled back his sleeves and Harry noticed that Severus had wrapped his wrist so that his Dark Mark wasn't visible. This intrigued and confused Harry and, upon looking at Miranda, found that it was new to her as well.

"Okay, Potter. Lesson one: try to stab me."

Harry fought back a laugh.

"With pleasure, Sir," Harry said politely, and rushed towards Severus with the stiletto ready in his hand.

The next thing he knew, he was on the ground. Gasping for breath, he sat up and looked around. Christine was laughing and clapping for her father, who was obviously trying to look professional. Even Miranda was laughing.

"Nice one, Uncle Harry!" Christine said squeakily.

Rubbing his head, Harry snatched up the stiletto and got to his feet.

"Lesson one, Potter," said Severus in his unpleasant voice that he reserved for Harry alone. "If you hold a weapon like you did, you _will_ get knocked to the ground. Clear?"

"Crystal," Harry said, promising himself that he would never show weakness towards Severus' taunting.

"Good. let's try that again, shall we? Watch closely…"

-

Later, once Harry was too exhausted to move and Christine was playing quietly in her room, Miranda dragged Severus' old cauldron into the sitting room and pulled up two chairs. After lighting a fire underneath it and rolling back her sleeves, she sat down and took out a long scroll. She unfurled it and read it slowly, her brows furrowed. Severus appeared in the doorway, his arms full of different materials. Wordlessly, he strode over and dumped them at Miranda's feet. She looked up from her parchment.

"What took you?"

Severus sat down in the chair adjacent to her and sighed.

"I was stalled," he said slowly, "by a woman in the apothecary."

Miranda snorted and punched Severus in the shoulder.

"I _told_ you! _You_ are a smarmy git," she joked, but he did not laugh; on the contrary, he looked deeply upset.

"It was Narcissa Malfoy."

Miranda dropped the jar of beetle eyes she had been holding and it fell to the floor, shattering and sending shards of glass in every direction.

"_What_?"

"My thoughts exactly," Severus said calmly, though a vein in his temple was twitching. "She said she's a spy for the Order now, working as a double agent. She said that the Dark Lord knows where we are – at least, he knows our general area. She does not know how he knows. I made her swear not to reveal that we are still around. I don't trust her."

"I don't blame you."

Severus cast a wary eye over at Harry, who was fast asleep, spread-eagled on his bed. He bent over, repaired the broken jar, and handed it back to Miranda, who began measuring ingredients.

"What was she doing in this area, anyway?" Miranda asked skeptically, carefully measuring out the beetle eyes and handing them to Severus so he could grind them to a powder.

"I haven't the faintest idea," replied Severus, taking the beetle eyes and grinding them with his pestle. "And that is what bothers me."

"Well, you know what that means," Miranda said cheerfully, pouring a yellow liquid into a measuring glass.

"What?"

"We'd better hurry our arses up and figure out this potion," she finished. Severus stared at her, his lips pursed and his face expressionless except for his slightly narrowed eyes. She smirked and held out a hand. "Hand me the dittany, por favor. We have a lot of work to do."

-

The next morning, Severus, having stayed up late into the night to work on the potion, staggered into the kitchen, feeling distinctly like a zombie. Miranda was rummaging in the refrigerator, a carrot sticking out of her back pocket. Severus yawned mightily and narrowed his eyes. Miranda straightened up, looking slightly confused, and saw Severus.

"Oh, you're up," Miranda said. "Good morning."

"Okay," Severus replied without listening, walking over to the table and sitting down, his head in his arms.

Miranda laughed and conjured up a cup of coffee with a shot of waking draught and slid it down the table. It stopped in front of Severus, who groggily looked up from his arms. He took the mug by the handle, tilted his head back, and downed the beverage in one swig. When he lowered the mug, he looked distinctly more awake. He smacked his lips.

"Mmm," he said thoughtfully. "I got pretty far through the potion last night."

"Clearly, given that you didn't come to bed until about two hours ago."

Severus shrugged and stood. He walked over to where Miranda was standing, her back to him, and pulled the carrot out of her back pocket. With a startled shriek, she jumped and spun around. He held up the carrot with a questioning look. She laughed.

"There it is!" She said, laughing and taking it from him. "I forgot where I put it when I got Harry's Pumpkin Juice."

He handed it wordlessly to her, his brows raised sardonically. She took it, grinning, and put it back in her pocket.

"I'm ninety-five percent through the potion," Severus said quietly.

"Really?" Miranda looked impressed. "You already added the sulphite and sodium benzoate?"

"Yes."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Wow," she said. "That really is something."

"Thank you."

She laughed and closed the gap between them. Harry walked into the kitchen, and, when he saw his ex-professors snogging, turned and abruptly walked from the room, unseen and horrified. Miranda and Severus broke apart and she pulled the carrot from her back pocket. She turned and marched towards the door, taking a bite from the carrot as she did so. She walked into the sitting room, asked Harry if he was okay (he looked a bit peaky) and sat down in front of the cauldron again. Severus followed and sat down beside her, and they began their work.

Miranda flicked her wrist and the remaining ingredients that needed to be added spread themselves out on the nearby table while Severus lit a fire under the cauldron and began checking to make sure that everything was in order.

Harry watched the two people work, amazed at their fluency in the art of potion-making and how well they worked together regardless of the fact that they were complete opposites. Their procedure was simple enough: Miranda measured out everything first while Severus tested the potion's consistency and made sure everything was okay to proceed. He and Miranda both added ingredients and talked about the little things such as how many stirs and whatnot. They were constantly referring back to the parchment to make sure that they were brewing correctly and adding the right amount of whatever. Harry, who had no idea what the potion was for, decided to ask.

"Miranda, what's this potion for, anyway?"

Miranda, without looking up from the cauldron, handed Severus the lacewing flies and replied, "Well, Harry, do you remember once upon a time, when you were in detention with your friend Ron, Severus and I were making a potion?"

Harry nodded and said, "Yes."

Miranda looked up briefly before turning her brown eyes back on the potion.

"Well," she said slowly, concentrating more on the potion than on her words. "We're combining that potion with the remedy. To block the killing curse and revive you shortly afterwards."

"Wow," said Harry, amazed. "You know, if it works, you could sell it and be famous."

Severus looked up at this and shot Harry a look of loathing.

"Do you not think, Potter?" Snape snapped. "If this potion got out on the market, everybody would buy it."

"So?"

Severus scoffed.

"So then everybody would be immune! People on both sides of the battle. Death Eaters. Even the Dark Lord."

Harry said nothing, for he knew that Snape was right again. Instead, he fell backwards on the bed and silently fumed. He hated it when he lost a battle of the wits – especially with Snape. He did make sense, though. If Voldemort did ever manage to get a hand on this potion, the war was over. Sure, Voldemort was mortal again, but only Harry had the ability to kill Voldemort, who was not easy to find. And even if he did find him, if Voldemort had this potion, he could not easily stab him. He would not be able to get close enough. Voldemort would have killed him before he reached arm's length. Harry wondered what exactly this potion was going to be used for, then, and if it would work. Moreover, who would test this potion for effectiveness? Who would test it for side effects?

Suddenly, after many minutes of silence, Miranda broke it with something unexpected.

"Uh oh."

Harry sat up quickly to see Severus staring quizzically at Miranda, whose eyes were fixed on the parchment.

"What is it?" Severus snapped, taking the parchment from her hands and reading it over as if looking for something that had been newly written there.

"Well," Miranda began, fighting the urge to laugh and trying to keep a straight face. "We can't add the last ingredient."

Severus' eyes quickly dropped to the bottom of the page, searching for an answer to Miranda's befuddling statement.

"Why not?" He began, and then he evidently found the answer, for he set his jaw.

"Apparently," began Miranda, "certain – ah – _requirements_ must be made to add the last potion ingredient." She gave Severus a sidelong glance and snickered. "Er… _purity_."

Severus and Miranda both turned to Harry, who quickly turned a delicate shade of pink.

"Er, sorry, Professors," Harry said slowly, forgetting that Miranda and Severus were not his professors anymore. "No can do."

"Hmm…"

Miranda tapped her chin patiently, thinking of a possible solution as Severus did likewise, staring at the parchment. Then, at the same time, the answer came to them both. Severus and Miranda exchanged a glance, both with their brows raised, and turned to face the staircase.

"Christine!" Severus called loudly.

Moments later, Christine appeared in the sitting room, a cowboy hat on her head and a Western gun holster around her waist. He smiled pleasantly at her parents, looking from Severus to Miranda to Harry and then back to Severus.

"Yes, Daddy?"

* * *

A/N: Holy cow, this chapter took way too long for me to type. Writer's block to the max. And anyway, I've completed a chart for my story and a chapter guide. There should be, by the time this is over, nine chapters. Possibly ten, but no less than nine.

I love torturing Draco, the poor kid.


	6. Letters to You

A/N: Yay for chapters and finally finishing them. This, I think, was my favorite chapter so far, at least to write. If next chapter doesn't top it, though, I'll be damned.

Disclaimer: I own nothing… especially not Harry Potter.

Happy Reading!

* * *

**Chapter Six – Letters to You**

"Ready, Christine?"

"Yes, Mummy."

"Do you remember what to do?"

"Yes, Mummy."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Mummy."

"Okay. Add away, then."

Everybody in the room, minus Christine, held their breath as the child held the measured amount of the final ingredient over the cauldron. Just as she had been instructed by Severus, she poured the fine-ground powder slowly in with one hand while she stirred clockwise seven times with the other. When she finished, she quietly put down the stirring ladle and the cup and hopped off her stool, eyes on the cauldron. Nobody said anything for a whole thirty seconds, for the potion was supposed to turn a shade of sunshine yellow if it worked. Nothing happened. Miranda anxiously shot Severus a look of anticipation, which he returned without even a glare.

"What did we do wrong?" He growled in a low voice, rubbing his temples and staring at the floor.

Nobody said anything until –

"Nothing! Look, Severus!" Miranda exclaimed.

Severus looked up and saw that the potion was slowly going from its dark shade of puce to a bright yellow. Miranda jumped up, gave a whoop, and scooped up Christine, who was giggling madly.

"We did it! Go us!" Miranda shouted before bursting into song. "We are the champions, my friends!"

Both Harry and Christine laughed. Severus, who was evidently trying not to smile, busied himself with putting a shot glass into the cauldron and scooping out a shot of the potion. He placed it on the nearby table and turned to watch the celebration.

"Who's going to test it?" Harry asked. "Surely nobody's going to get _Avada Kedavra_-d?"

Miranda, who was in a better mood than usual, laughed.

"Of course not," she said. "No, I'm just going to test for side effects, like vomiting or headaches of whatever. I obviously wouldn't be able to tell if a side effect was infertility, but hey, that's life for you."

Her smile flickered slightly, but it was back on in a second. Severus noticed this flicker even if nobody else did, and he couldn't help but feel slightly bad on her behalf. He frowned slightly as he thought. He himself was just happy to have Christine, but Miranda had told him once that she had wanted a truckload of kids. Only the _Progenitor Veneficium_ was standing in their way now. In fact, they had even spoken of trying to develop a potion or spell that would tweak the circumstances surrounding the spell. Something that would change the rules so that he, Miranda and any children would no longer be in danger. Something that would enable them to give Christine something that Severus and Miranda had both yearned for in their childhoods: a sibling.

Interrupting Severus' reverie, Miranda sat herself down in front of the table and picked up the shot glass.

"Bottoms up!" she said happily, conclusively, and tilted her head back.

In one swig she downed the shot glass of potion and then slammed the empty glass upside-down on the table. Everybody in the room watched her with uncertainty, as if she might just explode any second, but nothing happened. Miranda herself seemed to be in a state of concentration, as if she was trying to see if she felt any different. Severus sat down beside her and examined her face closely.

"What do you think?" he asked quietly, cocking his head as if to get a better view of the side of her face.

Suddenly, without warning, she gasped. Her hand found her throat, eyes wide with panic, and she fell to the ground, shaking. Both Harry and Severus jumped up in alarm and Christine gave a shout. Miranda sat straight up, grinning from ear to ear.

"Gotcha!" she exclaimed.

Christine began laughing, though Harry looked slightly stressed out and allowed himself to fall backwards on his bed. Severus rolled his eyes in exasperation, though he was clearly relieved.

"Not funny," he said in a warning voice. "Get up. I take it by your careless behavior that all is well?"

"Yeah, I feel great," Miranda said happily. "Never better. I could run a marathon."

"Please do," Severus said curtly, starting for the kitchen. "When you return I'll have dinner ready." He paused before adding nonchalantly over his shoulder, "Feel free to run in the road while you're at it."

-

Miranda immensely disliked cleaning. She disliked cleaning almost as much as much as she hated being bossed around and being given direct orders. No, she was not a house elf. But today she felt like one.

She climbed the stairs and, when she reached the top, pulled on a string dangling from the ceiling. A section of the ceiling came down on a hinge and exposed a folded-up ladder. She pulled on the ladder and unfurled it and, with one last look over her shoulder, clambered up into the attic. The place had not been cleaned for years. Dust covered the floor and cobwebs littered the corners of the ceiling and walls. Miranda took a deep breath and began shifting boxes. It was dull work, but it had to be done. Twice she tried using magic, but there was really no spell nor enchantment to put everything back in place.

Exhausted, she paused to take a quick break, conjuring a glass of lemonade out of nowhere. Severus was downstairs with Christine and Harry was reading up on more strategies for the attack he knew would come sooner or later. As she sipped her lemonade, she leaned against a box. The box fell over and she gave a yelp as she fell straight to the ground, spilling her lemonade everywhere.

"Dammit," she said quietly, and waved her hand.

The spilled liquid vanished and as she picked herself up, something caught her eye. It was another box that had been hidden by the box she had leaned on. She cocked her head curiously to the side, searching for a label and unable to remember bringing in this box.

"That's funny," whispered Miranda, and opened the box.

Inside the box was yet another box, this box no larger than a shoebox. Puzzled, she took out the shoebox and found that it was labeled. The word _Letters _was scrawled haphazardly on the top of the box in Severus' spiky handwriting. She opened the box and took out a letter, brows furrowed. The parchment was yellowing and the handwriting was slightly difficult to read, for it was fading. Miranda brought her nose closer to the page, her breath raising dust from it and sending it into the air. It was a girl's handwriting. Intrigued, Miranda read it.

_Severus,_

_How's your summer been? I just wanted to tell you that some strange things have been happening lately, and I was wondering if you had answers. This Dark Lord guy – Voldemort – he's been killing people and recruiting members to his gang. I… well… just write me back. I need to know._

_Lily_

_P.S. I'm pregnant (!), can you believe it?_

Utterly nonplussed, Miranda set aside the first letter and took out another, which was in the same handwriting as the first.

_Severus,_

_I don't know if you got my last letter, or maybe you're just too busy to write back, but I have something to ask you._

_Who are the Death Eaters, exactly, and what do they _do_? It doesn't make sense to me that people would go around killing Muggles and Muggleborns like these people do. Then again, I suppose some people are just that way. I remember hearing you talk about this Voldemort guy and stuff. I was just wondering, that's all…_

_Lily_

Letter after letter Miranda read, each letter getting a little more frustrated with their recipient. Miranda had known that Severus and Lily had been in the same year and that they had worked together on several Potions projects, but she couldn't figure out why she would be constantly writing to _him_ of all people, when her significant other wanted to harm Severus.

The pile of letters grew taller and Miranda reached the last few. A defined frown on her face, she picked up the second to last letter.

_Severus_

_I can't believe it was _you_! How could you do this after all we've talked about and after everything we've been through? Look, I'm not blaming you for the prophecy, alright? I just figured you'd have made better choices in your life. You're so smart, Severus, and you have so much potential. You could have done anything in the world, but you chose the easy way out. Well let me tell you, your decision will come back to haunt you someday._

_We need to talk, face to face. I don't care that you haven't replied to any of my letters, but you _will_ show up at Hogwarts on the third of September to discuss our options. Be there, Severus, or I will hunt you down._

_Lily_

Miranda was baffled. Her mouth hung slightly open as she put aside the letter and picked up the last one with quivering fingers. It was very short and quickly written, as if Lily had been in a terrible hurry upon writing it.

_Severus, _

_I think today shall be the last time I write to you. My end is imminent and I have a terrible feeling hanging over me, like the end is near. Voldemort has been too quiet for too long. I'm just writing this to remind you of your promise and what you swore to. Remember this, Severus, if not for Harry or for yourself, then for me._

_Do not forget, Severus._

_Li –_

The name was unfinished and had a jerky line following the second letter of her name, as if something had startled her and left her unable to finish the letter. Miranda looked at the date and paled as she saw that it had been written on the thirty-first of October. Her bottom lip trembled slightly against her will and she forced the letter back into the box, regretting her decision to read it in the first place, and followed it with the other letters.

She had just closed the lid of the shoebox when a strangled yell from downstairs made her jump to her feet in alarm.

"AAAAAUGH!"

It had been Severus; there was no mistaking his yell. She fled down the ladder and hurtled down the stairs in time to see Harry on the ground, eyes streaming. Severus was on his knees in front of Harry, his hands wrapped around the younger man's throat. Miranda gave a shout and pointed her finger at Severus, who instantly flew backwards and hovered a few inches off the ground.

"What the hell is going on here?" Miranda demanded in a severe voice, momentarily forgetting about Lily and her desperate letters.

Harry sat up slowly, gasping for breath and rubbing his neck. Severus, meanwhile, thrashed about in midair, never touching the ground.

"He contaminated it!" Severus yelled, face contorted with rage, pointing towards Harry, who was stumbling to his feet.

"Contaminated what?" Miranda asked, baffled.

"The potion! He contaminated the potion!" Severus yelled, making yet another attempt at freedom from the spell holding him in place. "I'll kill you, Potter!"

Miranda stepped hastily in front of Severus, hands on hips.

"Is this all necessary, Severus?" she asked in exasperation. "It's just a potion, just an experiment. Nobody's getting _Avada Kedavra_-d here. It's going to be okay."

Severus stared at her for a moment, unable to believe that she was defending Harry, and then began shouting again.

"He ruined it, dammit!" He yelled, following this statement with a slurring of jumbled together profanities.

Harry looked slightly alarmed, as did Christine, who knew better than to take one of her father's rampages seriously. It was only when both her parents were yelling that she became frightened. Miranda rolled her eyes at Severus, reached into her pocket, and took out a grape lolly.

"Don't worry about it, Severus," Miranda said, unwrapping the confection and shoving it into his mouth to silence his profanities on her behalf and on Christine's. "Just chill out. Take a breath or two – deep ones."

Severus glared at her before taking the lolly from his mouth and putting it in his pocket.

"Let me down," he said in a forced calm.

"You won't hurt Harry?"

"No."

Miranda shrugged and cast the counter-spell. Severus hovered for a moment longer and then his feet landed lightly on the ground. Harry backed up a few paces, trying to hide his nervousness, but Severus did not attack him. In fact, the greasy potions-master didn't spare Harry a glare as he turned, stomped up the stairs, and slammed his bedroom door. Miranda, Harry and Christine all grimaced slightly and a thin layer of dust fell from the ceiling as it shook from the slamming door. Miranda turned to Harry, who was trying to look composed.

"Honestly, he's got the temper of a five-year-old," Miranda said, rolling her eyes yet again. "No offence, Christine, of course. What did you do again, Harry?"

Harry looked slightly guilty.

"I, er, dropped something in the cauldron," Harry said apologetically. "My book. I guess it had a bad reaction with the ink because it's ruined. I'm sorry."

Miranda smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry, Harry," said Miranda. "It's not like we _need_ the potion. And it's not irreplaceable anyway. Besides, it's out fault for keeping the cauldron in your room."

Harry shrugged one shoulder up and down, and Miranda tossed both him and Christine lollipops before turning towards the kitchen.

"Dinner won't cook itself," she said brightly, then chuckled and added, "without some help."

-

That night, Miranda sat cross-legged on the bathroom floor in front of the mirror. Her nose was half an inch away from her reflection and a pair of tweezers was in her steady hand.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't jump as she was addressed, but nor did she turn and greet the person who had done the speaking.

"Eyebrows," she replied, closing one eye and pulling, jaw set against the pain shooting through her skin.

"Want me to help?" pressed the voice that belonged to Severus as he moved about the bathroom, putting things where they belonged.

"Nope," she replied simply, holding her breath and pulling out another section of hair.

"Your streak of independence will be your downfall, mark my words," he said severely, opening a cabinet and casually tossing a package of cleaning mints into it.

"Will not," Miranda said grumpily, and then her hand slipped and she poked herself in the eye with the tweezers. "Ouch!"

He did not hide his sneer as she turned around on the floor, rubbing her eye where she had poked it. Instead he sat down in front of her, his greasy hair swaying about his face, and took the tweezers from her.

"What are you, a Muggle?" he said sharply, though not harshly.

"Yes," she replied, laughing. "And so are you… Seth."

He rolled his eyes and tossed the tweezers over his shoulders. He took her face gently in his hands and closely examined her brows. Then he ran a thumb below her right brow, slowly, and did the same to her left one.

"What're you doing, Severus?" Miranda asked, carefully not using her eyebrows to show expression so that he could do… well, whatever he was doing.

"Saving you a whole lot of pain," he replied shortly. "Done."

Miranda turned around and saw, to her amazement, two perfectly-shaped eyebrows, and she hadn't felt a thing. He smiled, not a sneer, but a smile, as he watched her examine her reflection in awe. She was not one to hide her emotions, but share them with everybody and anybody. Her expressions were just so _expressive_, and sometimes it drove Severus absolutely insane. Other times, however, much like now…

"Thanks, Sev!" exclaimed Miranda, turning around and kissing him. She seemed to sober up all of a sudden, her shoulders slouching and her smile fading. She edged away from Severus slightly and asked, "What did you promise Lily Evans?"

If Severus had been expecting anything at all, this had not been it. He stared at her for a moment, as if he wasn't sure of what he'd heard. _Of course she knows_, he scolded himself for wondering. _She cleaned the attic today, didn't she? She was bound to come across those letters. I had only stowed them away for myself._

"You found the letters," he said in a low voice.

When she nodded, he sighed and rose to his feet. She slowly got up as well and followed at a distance, careful to give him some space.

"As you know," he began slowly, walking into the bedroom and staring at the floor. "I relayed the prophecy that lead to the death of Lily and James Potter. Shortly after the birth of Harry Potter, Lily found out that it was I who had relayed it and figured that I owed her. And I did owe her, so I agreed to make an unbreakable vow with Lily."

Miranda's eyes widened in surprise.

"The vow was that I was to protect Harry from harm until he came of age and was capable of taking care of himself. She found it fit to remind me the day she died; she knew it was coming."

Things made sense to Miranda all of a sudden. She crossed the room and touched his arm gently, and he shivered slightly, his eyes still fixed on the floor.

"That's why you didn't want Harry living with us, isn't it?" said Miranda as if she had figured something out. "You had finally been relieved of him and now you had to worry about him again."

Severus looked up for the first time, confusion etched into his face.

"What?" he said, confused. "No, that's not why. I didn't want Potter here because he is arrogant, reckless, and a walking reminder of the mistakes I've made. Like this."

He pulled his left sleeve back and exposed the bandaged Dark Mark on his flesh. Miranda, far from drawing back at his sudden harshness, came closer and laid a hand on his forearm. She slowly, as if unsure of what his reaction would be, unwound the bandage and revealed the ugly mark that he had had for years. Tracing the black skull lightly with her forefinger, she was glad to see that she still had an effect on him – goose bumps spread across his arm and he gave a slight shudder.

"I was wondering why you were hiding it," Miranda said quietly. "But it's nothing to be ashamed of, the past. It's happened and it's over, and now we can only live a day at a time from where we are. It's the choices we make now that will matter in the future."

She hugged him tightly now, her dark hair falling over her face. He returned the embrace, seeking comfort in her arms when he could go nowhere else and tangling his fingers in her silky tresses.

"I'm trying _so hard_ to make the right choices," he murmured, frowning and inhaling her sweet scent, one he thought he had lost not so long ago. "I just don't know if I'm doing it right, if I'm on the right path."

"You're doing wonderfully, Severus," replied Miranda, a tear snaking down her cheek, unseen by the man she had her arms wrapped around. "And I'll always be here with you, guiding you. Always."

He said nothing in reply; no words could express the mixture of gratitude and love he was feeling at that moment.

-

Time passed. The snow melted and Christine turned six. The four that lived together plus Trish held a small birthday party that ended up with Miranda and Trish singing a very foulmouthed rendition of _McArthur Park_ and Harry getting the salad turned over on his head. One March morning, Christine was finally asleep, for she hadn't been able to sleep the entire night because she thought that she had been hearing things outside her window. Severus, Harry and Miranda had taken turns staying up to keep her company; nobody had gotten much sleep. Miranda walked into the sitting room wearing a fuzzy blue dressing gown and matching slippers, a steaming mug of coffee in her hand. Harry was already awake, and the scent of the morning beverage made him sit up.

"Morning H-h-Harry," she said, failing to stifle a yawn.

Harry groaned and rolled over into his pillow, pressing his face into it and becoming even more tangled in his bedclothes. Miranda, too tired to smile at Harry' exhaustion, sat down on the edge of the bed with her coffee. When he said nothing she became slightly concerned.

"You alright, Harry?"

Harry didn't reply, but held the orange pillow to his face and rolled over, his knuckles white from squeezing the pillowcase.

Finally he asked, "What's it like to be married?"

Miranda took a thoughtful sip of coffee, staring over the brim of the mug and into space.

"Well," she began slowly, reaching up and scratching the side of her face with a grimace, "it's a struggle, really, sharing everything with one other person. Don't get me wrong, it's the best thing that can happen to you – besides having a kid, I mean – and it's worth it if you're willing to work together." She glanced at Harry, who still had the pillow over his face. "It doesn't always go smoothly, especially when you have, er… _conflicting interests_, as you've probably learned from Severus and me."

Harry chuckled darkly and removed the pillow from his face.

"If I live through this," Harry said slowly, turning his green eyes to Miranda, "I want that. To get married and live a new life. With Ginny."

Miranda smiled.

"Did you propose to her yet?" she asked.

Harry shook his head, stretching his arms over his head and yawning. He reached over and grabbed his glasses from the bedside table, put them on, and sat up. The bedclothes fell down and revealed a rumpled and fading Chudley Cannons shirt and a pair of red plaid shorts.

"I'ma wait until the war is over, or at least until I kill ol' Moldyshorts," said Harry, raising his wand and summoning a cup of coffee nonverbally. "But definitely, and I think she knows that I'm waiting. I haven't seen her in ages…" Harry's voice drifted off before he said suddenly, "I hope I can kill him. I'm sure I can. I'd better be able to."

Miranda nodded thoughtfully, bringing the rim of the mug to her lips but not drinking.

"You will," she said. "You've been trained to the best of our abilities. You've been studying everything you can that can help you. You've been preparing for years."

Harry nodded and drank from his mug conclusively. At that moment, Severus strode into the room, a mug of coffee in his hand and a comb in the other. He looked just as tired as Miranda and Harry, but he was dressed for work with a plain black tie slung lamely around his shoulders. He drank from the mug as he ran the comb through his greasy, wet hair, looking miserable and irritable. Miranda leapt from the bed and crossed the room on suddenly nimble feet.

"Going to work, Severus?" she asked cheerfully, lacing her fingers around his neck.

"Apparently," he replied dryly, absently stuffing the comb in his back pocket.

She smirked and began idly fixing his tie for him as he continued on his coffee.

"What's it like to be married?" she asked curiously, her eyes fixed on the tie in her fingers.

"Considering that you're a bloody pain in the neck, it's an uphill battle."

"I can make that literal, you know," she said, mocking pulling the tie tightly around his neck.

He sneered at her and she stuck her tongue out at him. Harry suddenly became very interested in his book, which he snatched up and held upside-down.

"It's a good thing you're such a nice, sweet person," Miranda said mockingly as she looped the tie. "A real pleasure to be around."

"It's a good thing you're not an annoying nag," he replied with the same venomous sarcasm.

She gave an almighty tug on his tie, pulling him down to her eye level and making his breath catch in his throat. She grinned evilly, her eyes glittering with wickedness.

"See?" she began slyly, leaning ever closer, "I know how to make you –"

She was cut off when a scream and a crash came from upstairs. Everybody froze, Miranda in the middle of her sentence, and her eyes darted to the stairs, brows contracted together.

"What the hell was that?" she said, but didn't stick around for an answer.

She sprinted off and up the stairs, Severus right behind her. Harry tossed his book aside made to jump up as well, but got tangled up in his sheets and went crashing to the floor. Miranda reached Christine's bedroom first and slipped inside, accidentally closing it behind her but not bothering to open it again. Severus stood outside the door and waited impatiently for some kind of signal or yell from Miranda, ready to launch surprise backup if needed. Harry arrived at last, panting from his wrestling match with the bedclothes.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, dropping his usual formal address.

"If I knew I wouldn't be standing here with you," Severus replied in a low murmur. "I'm just waiting for –"

The door opened and Miranda emerged, clinging to the door frame to keep herself standing. Both Severus and Harry turned to her, dumbstruck.

"There's blood everywhere," Miranda whispered. "The window's open. Christine is gone."

With that, her knees buckled and she collapsed forward with a gasp. Severus ran forward and caught her just in time.

"She's gone, Severus!" Miranda said again in a choked voice, her nails digging into his back. "I'm going to find her."

She made to pull away and run for the front door, but he seized her wrist and held her still. He turned to Harry first.

"Put up wards,' he told Harry quickly, dropping his usual spite. "Keep anybody from coming in or going out." Harry nodded and dashed away, and Severus turned to Miranda, who was struggling with the grasp he had on her wrist and, in her blind panic, forgot that she could use magic. "Are you crazy?" he said sternly to her. "First off, you're in slippers and a dressing gown – hardly apparel for a wild goose chase. Second –" she made to cut him off but he held up a hand and she fell silent. "Second, she's just been kidnapped. They could be anywhere, Death Eaters hiding behind any corner, waiting for you. They would love nothing more than to kill you."

Miranda opened her mouth, thought desperately for a moment for a solution, and then said, "I'll go as a fox. Nobody will even know it's me."

He shook his head, not letting go of her wrist.

"Anybody who looks at the Ministry roster will know that it's you."

She laughed coldly and retorted, "I've been in semi-hiding my entire life, keeping my heritage and my whereabouts on the DL. Do you honestly think I registered my animagus under my own name? No, I registered as Martha Kensington. Let me _go_, Severus!"

She made another vain attempt at freedom, but he held fast to her wrist.

"Lucius knows somehow, and if he does, so will the other Death Eaters. I cannot let you risk getting caught – I cannot lose both of you to this. They will not harm her, not right away. They need her, alive and whole. She will not be of use to them for some time, but they will not harm her. When I was a Death Eater the Dark Lord was constantly on the lookout for the heir of Ravenclaw. Christine is now that person," Severus said quickly and sternly, staring her in the eye with persistence. All thoughts of going to work had vanished from his mind. "You, on the other hand, are no more than an obstacle to overcome for the Dark Lord to gain power. You're not the heir anymore, Miranda, and this is not just your life we're gambling now. Hell, they'll need to kill us both eventually in order to get the _Progenitor Veneficium_. We need a plan. We need to talk to Albus."

She began to tug away again and he released her at having realized just how tight his grip on her wrist had become during his intense spiel. She rubbed her wrist unconsciously, but then her bottom lip trembled and she burst into tears. Throwing herself into his arms, she sobbed into his chest.

"Why did this have to happen, Severus? I thought we were safe," Miranda sobbed, gasping for breath as more tears overwhelmed her.

Severus wrapped an arm around her waist and put a hand on the back of her head, holding her closer to him in an attempt at a comforting gesture.

"The question is not 'why'," he said solemnly, his voice hollow and his brows furrowed in deep contemplation, "but '_how_'."

* * *

A/N: Yay for filler chapters! I was going to leave off with "She's gone" but I decided a cliffie like that was only going to upset people. I like this better. It's more subtle. Oh yes, and for conversational purposes, I kicked serious arse in Harry Potter trivia the other day. I was happy. While my cousin knew the really random stuff that nobody should ever memorize, I was the Snape buff. Heck yes. Oh my gosh I can't get enough of that greasy potions-master. Sorry, I'm rambling now. 

So, after a strange day filled with surprisingly well-behaved children, haircuts, surprise guests, and, most importantly, a very difficult dilemma, the chapter is finally done. I have some serious considering to do.


	7. Miranda's Luck

A/N: My longest chapter in, well… ever, I think. That's cool, I guess.

PG-13 rating because desperate times call for desperate measures!

Disclaimer: I own nothing… especially not Harry Potter.

Happy Reading!

* * *

**Chapter Seven – Miranda's Luck**

Severus swept down the stairs, Miranda at his heels. He ignored Harry, who had evidently finished the wards and looked like he was going to ask a question. The three of them ran into the sitting room with Severus in the lead, and stopped in front of the fireplace. Severus quickly conjured up a magical fire and threw some floo powder into it. He dropped to his knees and stuck his head in the fire, saying "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Headmaster's office."

There was a pause, in which Miranda sniffled and Harry wondered what they were going to do next. The next bits of conversation between Severus and Albus were unheard by Miranda and Harry, as they were on the wrong side of the floo, but after a few seconds, Severus withdrew his head from the fireplace.

"Stand back," he warned, climbing to his feet and throwing out his arms, forcing the other two back. "He's on his way."

Sure enough, moments later Albus Dumbledore appeared in the fireplace, spinning like a top. He slowed down and stepped out, brushing his robes off half-mindedly. Harry suddenly felt a sense of relief, a feeling that usually came only when Dumbledore got involved in a problem.

"What is going on?" Albus asked, looking from Severus to Harry to Miranda, who was struggling to overcome her bout of tears.

"Christine's been kidnapped from right under our noses," Severus said quickly. "There is a traitor in our midst, somebody who knows of our location and is relaying information to the Dark Lord."

Albus said nothing at first, but he was evidently thinking hard, his expression thoughtful. Then, his mouth became slightly agape and he closed his eyes.

"Narcissa Malfoy," he muttered quietly, but whether to himself or to them, Harry couldn't tell.

"Narcissa?" Severus said incredulously.

"Yes, it all makes sense," Miranda said quietly, sniffling a little more but otherwise seeming to have regained control of herself.

Harry figured this statement was true, but that didn't keep him from not understanding what was going on. He hoped that somebody would explain soon.

"Severus saw her months ago in the apothecary; she said she was a double agent," Miranda continued. "Doesn't she know where we live?"

"Yes, she knows," Albus replied. "Many Order members know, including Draco Malfoy, who was recently recaptured by Death Eaters while he was taking a walk. It would seem that Narcissa Malfoy has betrayed us indeed, by recapturing her son and returning him to Voldemort."

Severus winced slightly at the name, but Miranda gasped.

"How could that be, Albus?" Miranda asked in shock.

"Draco was supposed to be guarded by his mother while he went on the walk. Narcissa returned to headquarters some time after the disappearance of Draco and said that she had been knocked unconscious by a wayward Stunner. Naturally I believed her, for her story was a good one, but I became uneasy. I think that Draco, who had been working vigorously for the Order of the Phoenix, was the one who broke into your home today. Draco knows the location of your home and, while he could not share this information, he could come here and do the Dark Lord's bidding, accompanied by Death Eaters that would make sure he did not try to escape." There was another pause until Albus finished, "Yes, this theory makes sense to me. Now, what to do."

"I will be going to fetch my daughter," Severus said, holding himself a little straighter.

"Me too," Miranda piped up with determination, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

"And me," Harry said after a moment. "This could be my only chance to kill Voldemort once and for all."

Albus rested his eyes on Harry, who noticed that the twinkle behind the half-moon spectacles seemed to have gone out. Harry thought that Dumbledore looked far older as well, and wondered what the wizard was thinking.

"Are you prepared, Harry?" Albus asked gravely. When Harry nodded, he sighed. "Yes, I thought you would be. Now, for the plan."

Harry listened even more intently than before, hanging on every word that was being said.

"I think, if this is going to be successful, we can not send more people than necessary," Albus said. "Somebody will have to go and retrieve the key that is holding Christine in her cell. Severus, you know the hideout better than anybody here, and will thus be able to maneuver your way to the chamber of keys better. This chamber will likely be an anti-magic chamber, as will be the chamber in which Christine is being held." Severus nodded gravely, his jaw set, and Albus turned to Miranda. "Miranda, you will be responsible for breaking entry to the castle and 'taking care of' as many Death Eaters as possible, so to speak, so that Harry has a chance of facing Voldemort without the Death Eaters coming to aid. This must be done discreetly and cannot be done in an attack – you must use every ounce of cunning you possess to fool and overcome Voldemort's minions."

Miranda nodded now, and Albus set his crystal blue gaze on Harry, and Harry was suddenly overcome with a sense of dread. So this was it, was it? The moment he had planned and trained for for years? Harry reached into his pocket and closed his fingers around the fake Horcrux, which he still kept on his person at all times.

"Harry," Albus said slowly, and then faltered slightly before finishing, "you will wait for Miranda's signal. After that, you know what to do."

Harry nodded and felt a strange feeling course through him, as if a load had been taken of his chest – he would have to wait only a while longer and then he would have his chance. And the, well, things would change, no matter what the outcome.

-

Christine lay down in her cell, having fought tooth and nail to get free. Unfortunately, the pointy blonde boy had managed to apparate her to this dark and dreadful place. He hadn't, however, gotten away unscathed; she had bitten his hand back in her bedroom, causing him to bleed profusely all over everything as he struggled to catch the six-year-old.

The door opened and a tall man gaited in, hooded and cloaked. Christine sat up, alert. He crossed the room with smooth agility and stood before the bars on Christine's door, his fiery red eyes shining from beneath his hood like two hot coals.

"Hello, little one," he said calmly, though his voice was unpleasant for Christine to hear.

Christine said nothing. She was not incredibly afraid, but she knew when to keep her mouth shut – a trait she had learned from her father. The cloaked man sank down upon his haunches and peered at Christine through the bars of the cell.

"May I ask your name?" the man asked nicely, patiently.

"No," Christine replied simply.

A feeling of surprise flooded through Voldemort, but he did not show it.

"What is your name, little girl?" he pressed, coaxing carefully.

Christine narrowed her eyes slightly, yet another something she had learned from her father.

"Mummy said for me to never tell who I am to a stranger unless he's a please-man," Christine said calmly.

Voldemort raised a brow.

"Ah, and your mother is a smart woman, isn't she?"

"Yes."

"And would she be… kind of tall with dark brown hair and a pair of old boots?" Voldemort said, his malicious grin hidden by the shadow his cloak cast over his face.

Christine did not answer, but her look of surprise betrayed her. Voldemort hissed softly.

"And what is your father's name?"

Christine shrugged this time and replied, "Daddy."

Voldemort narrowed his red eyes.

"What is his _name_? Your biological father?"

Christine, who had no idea what 'biological' meant, snapped, "I _told_ you, Mister, his name is Daddy."

Voldemort, exasperated, tried a different tactic. He knew that Severus Snape was living with Miranda Kent, as he had been told by the loyal Narcissa Malfoy, but he still did not know who the biological father of Christine was. Christine was making no effort in helping him, either.

"Christine Kent, I am Lord Voldemort," Voldemort said. "Does that frighten you?"

"No," Christine replied simply, changing position so that she was sitting cross-legged in her purple pajamas. "But I know who you are. Uncle Ha –" she stopped from giving away the name just in time and continued, "My Uncle told me you are a bad man with an emotional problem."

Slowly, in an effort to further frighten the brave child, Voldemort reached up a hand with long fingers ending in pointed nails and pulled his hood back. Far from striking fear into her heart, Christine's face twisted suddenly, as if she was trying desperately not to laugh.

"What is it?" Voldemort snapped.

Christine pointed to Voldemort and chirped, "You got a funny face, Mister." There was a pause, followed by, "Can I have a piece of chalk, please?"

Voldemort, who was on the verge of strangling this child, was snapped out of his anger by the question. He opened his mouth to refuse her, but then rethought. He would have to keep this little monster around for many years to come, so why not begin the brainwashing process now? He conjured a box of sidewalk chalk out of nowhere and handed it through the bars to Christine, who thanked him before turning away from him and beginning to draw a window on the wall of her cell. Voldemort watched as she added a mountain and a valley to the poorly-drawn window, and finally left while she was halfway through drawing the sunglasses on the sun.

-

The plan was made and the date was set. That night was terrible for everyone. Harry tossed and turned in his bed in the sitting room, unable to get the thought of Voldemort off his mind. The idea that he could possibly be dead this time tomorrow was impossible to _not_ think about.

After a few hours, Harry became so impatient and fed up that he crawled out from underneath the orange bedclothes, his hair standing on end from static electricity, and began to write a letter. He sat with his back propped up against the settee, thinking his words over carefully before using a Muggle pencil to write. The letter was for Ginny. After much gnashing of teeth and crossing out, the final letter was complete.

_Dear Ginny,_

_I really can't say what's going on, but it's likely that I fight Voldemort tomorrow. Since I might not get a chance to tell you again, I'll say it now: I love you_ _so much and you've helped me get through these bad times better than I could possibly imagine. If I manage to get through this, I want to get married, move into a place of our own and have a billion kids. Thank you for helping me become who I am today – I couldn't have done it without you._

_Love,_

_Harry_

"There," Harry said conclusively, quietly. "Short, sweet and straight to the point."

He sealed the letter and sent it off with the owl Christine had received for her birthday. The owl went by the name of Stupid, something Christine had thought up all by herself. After Stupid had disappeared from view, Harry flopped onto the bed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Miranda drifted in the uneasy territory between consciousness and sleep. The sleep she did manage was punctuated with images of Christine, cold and alone and abused. She wept for the vast majority of the time, seeking comfort in Severus, who found that he could not help her. In fact, Severus found that he could not sleep at all. Every time he closed his eyes he felt as if some terrible coldness was gripping him, though the bed he was laying in was quite warm.

"Are you awake, Severus?" Miranda whispered, tears silently seeping from her eyes.

"Yes."

"Am I keeping you up?" She asked, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, giving a shaky and convulsive sniffle.

"No," he replied quietly. "I can't sleep anyway."

-

The following morning, the house was filled with so much tension that Harry did not speak at all. Severus, Miranda and Harry spent the vast majority preparing for the venture that they were going to take. Severus unceremoniously abandoned his work clothes, donning himself if his familiarly old, overly-dramatic swishy robes. Miranda and Harry both dressed in black, with the exception of Miranda's dark jeans. Harry was dressed similarly, only with the stiletto fastened to his belt. Finally, the time arrived.

"Remember, Severus," Miranda said quietly. "The key."

He nodded gruffly as he sat on the stairs, pulling his combat boots on. Harry stood a few feet away, nervously clenching and unclenching his fingers, the fake Horcrux slung around his neck on its chain. Severus pointed at his boots and they laced themselves as he stood, taking his trench coat from Miranda and swinging it over his shoulders. He straightened it out, looking down at his wife with a grave expression. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of black sunglasses, handing them to him with the smallest of weak smiles.

"Do be careful, Severus," Miranda said quietly.

"Speak for yourself," he replied sternly, pocketing the shades. "Remember, do not follow me; find your own way inside."

Miranda nodded and waggled a finger at Harry in motion for him to join them. Slowly Harry started forward, looking distinctly pale and nervous. Severus, who knew the location of the Death Eater headquarters but could not reveal it because he was not secret-keeper, had spent a great deal of time struggling to invent a spell or something that could let Miranda and Harry know where to apparate to. Finally, after failing with charms and potions, he had developed a type of Occlumency and Legilimency that would let Miranda and Harry break into his mind and access the information. Since he was technically not revealing the location but having it stolen from him, the Fidelius Charm could not prevent him from allowing Miranda and Harry to access his thoughts. He wouldn't have been able to establish this sneaky loophole without the _Progenitor Veneficium_, which had become both a blessing and a curse in the last days.

Severus drew forth the image of the manor and concentrated on its coordinates and appearance with all of his might, his eyes closed tightly. Harry and Miranda broke into his mind at the same time, causing him to wince slightly, and received the information they needed. They pulled out.

"Ready?" Miranda asked, panting slightly. "Let's go."

Just as they were abut to apparate there was a knock on the door. Miranda, confusion on her features, crossed the room and opened the door. It was Trish.

"Surprise!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms open, beaming happily.

The smile slid off her face as she saw Harry, Severus and Miranda, all looking graver than she had ever seen. Her eyes dropped to the stiletto on Harry's belt and she eyed it with apprehension.

"What's going on?" she asked, and then gave an exclamation as Miranda pulled her into the house and slammed the door.

Miranda forcefully steered Trish towards the stairs and sat her down on them. Trish's eyes widened with apprehension at her friend's expression.

"Trish, Maria and Seth Simpson, as well as Monty Burns, do not exist," Miranda said hastily. "Our real names are Miranda and Severus Snape and Harry Potter. We were in hiding from a psychopath dark wizard named Lord Voldemort, who has sent one of his minions to capture Christine."

Trish burst into laughter.

"A wizard, Maria?" Trish laughed, wiping away a tear of mirth. Her laughter stopped abruptly when nobody else laughed. "Are you serious?" she asked in disbelief.

Miranda pointed a finger at Harry and his trousers caught fire. Harry gave a yelp, pulled his wand out of his pocket, and vanished the flames with a flick. Trish's jaw dropped.

"Wow!" she said, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I can't explain it now, there's too much," Miranda replied hastily, and then summoned a few sheets of paper from her room. Trish watched the papers zoom into Miranda's outstretched hand, overcome with awe. "But while you're here, make sure these papers get to the right people," Miranda added. "This is the last Will and Testament of Severus and I."

Trish slowly took the papers, eyes riveted upon Miranda.

"Your Will?" Trish said, dumbfounded.

"Yes, now we must leave," Miranda said quickly, standing up straighter. "It's been nice knowing you, Trish."

Trish opened her mouth to speak, but in the blink of an eye, Miranda, Harry and Severus had disappeared in a whirling of cloaks.

-

With three simultaneous cracks, the trio apparated near the manor, which looked like an abandoned Muggle mansion. Severus pointed to the front door and then in another direction.

"I go this way," he said, and then started off, pulling his nunchucks out of his trench coat pocket and putting on the dark shades.

Miranda and Harry shared a glance before running off together behind the nearest tree. She peered around the trunk at the front door, which was unguarded. The Death Eaters evidently didn't believe a guard was necessary, as they were protected by the Fidelius.

"Okay Harry," Miranda said, turning her back to the tree and casting her eyes upon Harry, quickly forming a plan for the raven-haired man. "There's a window on ground level. Sneak inside it and climb through the vent and into the air duct. Crawl along until you find the room Voldemort is in, and then wait for me to give you a signal."

Harry nodded and then asked, "How will I know when you're giving me a signal?"

"Trust me, you'll know."

Harry nodded, disillusioned himself and then darted off and up the slope towards the manor. Miranda sighed, slumped against a tree, and waited. What she was waiting for was a brilliant stroke of genius, an idea of some sort. Having found nothing in her mind, she crossed her arms and took a deep breath. Inspiration would come eventually, but a little snooping seemed to be in order. She disillusioned herself and began prowling around.

-

Harry found the ground-level window and dropped down on his knees in front of it. Nobody was in the room, which was dark and cold-looking. Harry withdrew his wand and pointed it at the door. After muttering "_Alohomora_" he opened the window and climbed through.

The room was utterly empty of furniture and people alike. Harry slipped down the wall and onto his feet, lighting the tip of his wand and looking around. He raised his wand over his head and saw in the corner of the room that a large air vent was installed on the wall. After crossing the room and taking a deep breath, Harry set his jaw, popped off the vent and climbed into the duct.

-

Severus strode into the anti-magic chamber, his trench coat whipping about behind him. The nunchucks in his hand swayed menacingly back and fourth, his laced-up combat boots making a faint jangling noise with every step he took. He walked right up to the desk at which Bellatrix and Mulciber stood and stopped before them, the faintest of sneers twitching in the corners of his mouth.

"I believe," Severus said, peering through his dark shades, "you have something that belongs to me."

Mulciber and Bellatrix exchanged a startled expression before turning back to the man standing before them.

"You think you can take us both?" Bellatrix said, crossing her arms and raising her brows coolly. Mulciber laughed coldly.

"Yes, yes I do. And I hoped it wouldn't come to this, gentlemen and female," Severus said calmly, bringing the nunchucks into view. He took one of the weapon's handles in each hand and pulled. The snap echoed throughout the room, causing fear to flit across the faces of both the stunned Death Eaters. "But if you want to try me, who would I be to deny you? Let's play."

With that, he jumped over the desk and attacked.

-

Looking frantically back and forth, Miranda struggled to hatch herself a plan while Severus went about getting the key from one of the anti-magic chambers. To her surprise, she saw a tall blonde woman apparate on the spot, scarcely clad and wearing stiletto heels. Stunned, Miranda hurried forward, took away the disillusionment charm and called out to the woman.

"Hey!"

The woman spun around, wand lit, but when she saw Miranda, wandless and alone, she let out a breath and lowered her wand. Miranda caught up with the woman and they began walking towards the manor together.

"What're you doing here? It's a dangerous place," Miranda warned as the woman continued to walk with her head held high, though her legs quivered as she walked over the uneven ground on her monstrously high heels.

"If you must know, I'm from _Shady Joe's_ down in Kent," the woman said, and then added at Miranda's quizzical expression, "Prostitute."

Miranda's mouth formed a silent "O" in realization and raised her brows as she looked away from the woman. Were the Death Eaters really this _stupid_? Hiring a prostitute and bringing her to their secret hideout? Though the manor was under the Fidelius Charm, she supposed the woman was also probably under a forced Unbreakable Vow. She decided to test this theory.

"So how do you know about this place?" Miranda asked cheerfully, as if they weren't walking to someplace dangerous.

"Can't say," the woman said coldly, quickening her pace. "I can't give any details."

Miranda nodded once in approval. So she was right, then. And the woman was showing no interest in why Miranda was wondering around. Well, there was really only one thing that Miranda could do, and it was helping her own situation as well as the woman's. She hurried ahead of the woman a step and stopped in front of her, causing the woman to almost fall from her unnatural height.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about this," Miranda said reluctantly, and then raised her hand.

The woman fell to the ground, having been nonverbally stupefied. Miranda pulled on the elastic band that was holding her hair back in a sloppy bun and her hair fell free, just past her shoulders. She gave it a tug and it lengthened. With a tap on the top of her head, her hair brightened several shades and curled into elegant ringlets. She took the woman's shoes and found that they were the right size, then put them on. After rummaging around in the woman's purse, she applied a liberal amount of dark red lipstick and eyeliner, as well as mascara. She quickly transfigured her jeans into a rather short, plaid skirt and her shirt into a very much lower-cut, corset-like bodice. For more of her own comfort than appearance, she kept her long cloak on, but decided that it didn't take away much from her eccentric appearance. A garter belt and a pair of fishnet stockings later, Miranda was ready to roll. She examined her reflection with a mirror charm and was absolutely horrified.

"Ugh, I might have pulled this off a little _too_ well. I look nothing like me," she said, eyeing her dismal appearance before turning to the woman, who was still unconscious on the ground.

After modifying the woman's memory, Miranda sent her off to wherever she had come from with the banishing portkey charm she had invented years back. She began to walk up towards the manor again, but was unable to keep her balance while wearing the ridiculous heels.

"Oh bullocks to this," she grumbled, and transfigured the stilettos back into her steel-toed combat boots.

Feeling slightly more comforted now that she had balance on her side, Miranda started off for the manor. She knocked on the door and impatiently waited for an answer. A man she recognized as Antonin Dolohov answered the door, his dark hair over his eyes.

"You're not the woman I talked to," he pointed out, and Miranda forced a laugh.

"Makeup and magic can do a girl wonders," she replied smoothly, raising an eyebrow and smiling sweetly. This was not a lie, as it had done so for her.

Dolohov shrugged and opened the door.

"Come with me then," he said, and led Miranda down a long stretch of hallway.

They stopped in front of a tall oak door and Dolohov pointed to her with a gloved finger.

"Hold up," he said to her, and knocked on the door.

A voice answered and the Dolohov opened the door a crack, revealing a bunch of Death Eaters, some Miranda recognized and others she did not.

"She seems a bit dodgy," Dolohov said slowly as he opened the door, eyeing Miranda, who felt all-too-vulnerable in her skimpy getup.

_Quick_, Miranda thought in alarm, _Say something to remove all doubt from their minds that I am, in fact, a prostitute._

"Er," Miranda began nervously, and then put on a slightly deeper voice. "Hi, I'm Trixie…?"

"Sounds right to me!" Rookwood said hurriedly, lighting up a cigarette. "Let her in, Antonin."

Relieved and apprehensive at the same time, Miranda stepped inside. Though she was incredibly edgy, she couldn't help but mentally rejoice – she was in!

-

Severus straightened up, a key on a chain held triumphantly in one hand and the nunchucks on the other. He wrapped the chain around his wrist and stepped over a fallen chair as he headed in the direction of the long hallway, through which he would find Christine.

"See you around," he said smugly to the two dead Death Eaters on the floor. He gave Bellatrix a good kick in the side and tread on Mulciber's fingers on his way out the door. "Or not."

-

Harry climbed silently through the air duct, stopping at every vent to look into the room and see who it contained. He paused when he saw, at the end of one room, Lucius Malfoy and Rodolphus Lestrange playing poker.

"I win, again," Lucius said smugly, laying his cards out. "Fork it over, Roddy."

Rodolphus rolled his eyes and handed a bottle of firewhiskey to Lucius, who took it and grinned.

"You should play against Augustus sometime, Lucius," Rodolphus said, looking slightly put out. "You might be able to beat him."

Harry felt a tingling sensation in his nose, no doubt set off by the dust he was raising as he crawled on his hands and knees. He tried with all his might to hold it back, but he couldn't; he sneezed. Luckily for him, Lucius chose that moment to begin laughing loudly.

"Are you _joking_, Roddy?" Lucius sneered. "Augustus would destroy me in Poker."

Having heard enough to know this was not the place he was looking for, Harry continued crawling along the duct.

-

As she sat and listened to the Death Eaters talking, Miranda tried to form a plot in her head before she was forced to do anything she would regret. Unfortunately, it seemed that she would have to commit murder in order for this to work properly, but she was not as bothered as these were the people who had made her life, as well as her daughter's life, miserable.

"So," drawled the unmistakable voice of Walden Macnair. "Tell us about yourself."

Miranda was surprised out of her dark thoughts. They wanted to know about _her_? Maybe they were expecting some sort of show. _Well_, Miranda thought wryly, _if a show is what they want, I won't disappoint them_.

"Well," Miranda began in a silky smooth voice that she only ever used to make fun of Severus. "My mother died giving birth to me and my father disowned me when I became a… _show girl_, so I moved into Joe's strip joint." Miranda crossed the room and sat herself down on a barstool between Rookwood and Avery. "Of course, my self esteem was pretty low, but I'm better now. There's nothing more relaxing than hanging out with attractive men like yourselves," she continued, swinging her legs up and propping her combat boots a nearby Death Eater's lap. The men moved closer towards her, clinging to every word. "I recognize some of you, you know," she said nonchalantly, picking up the shot glass that was in front of Avery and downing its contents.

_Yuck_, she thought._ Vodka_.

"Anyway, you meet some pretty interesting folk in the business," she continued in her silky voice, holding the glass close to her face as if examining the contents.

She closed one eye and tipped the glass back, allowing the last few drops to fall into her mouth. She smacked her lips and slammed the shot glass upside-down on the table like she had done all that time ago when testing out the Anti-_Avada_ potion.

"And coincidentally," she continued, snatching the cigarette that was dangling from Rookwood's mouth. "This just happens to be the largest group I've ever serviced."

She took a drag from the cigarette coolly, surveying the room as if seizing up the men, but really thinking of an escape route.

"You smoke?" Rookwood asked with interest, leaning his greasy chin on his hand and admiring her closely.

Miranda pulled the cigarette out of her mouth, blew out the smoke, tried not to cough, and handed Rookwood back the cigarette.

"Nope," she said in a choked voice, resisting the urge to clutch at her throat.

A plan quickly formed in her mind. She stood and snapped her fingers, and a whip appeared in her hand. Smiling pleasantly, she began striding through the room. She stopped near the doorway, which was being stood in front of by Rabastan Lestrange. She nonverbally blocked all vents of the room and locked all the windows and doors, minus the one that she was closest to her. If she could only get out, she could transfigure the air in the room into Carbon Monoxide and have all these Death Eaters finished. With this plan in mind, she cracked the whip in the air and wrapped it around Rabastan's neck.

"And _you_," Miranda said smoothly, pulling Rabastan closer with the whip. He gasped. "What's _your_ name? Alias? Sign?"

"R-Rabastan," he choked.

"I like that name," Miranda said simply, grinning maliciously at him and exposing her perfectly straight, white teeth. "Yes, it's very… dark."

As the word 'dark' left her lips, she reached behind Rabastan and turned out the lights. An uproar ensued, in which the Death Eaters all stood and began blindly flailing around, looking for their wands and for Miranda.

_Now,_ she thought, _to get rid of Rabastan here…_

Miranda swiftly tightened the whip around his neck and then loosened it to give him a false sense of security. She pushed him against the door and held it there with her body, her plan coming into play but not making her feel any more dignified, for Rabastan's hands had begun to roam to places he certainly did _not_ have permission to have them. Quickly, she tightened the whip around his neck and, when he tried to yell out, silenced him by crashing her mouth onto his. He went along at first, undoubtedly thinking that this was merely part of her act, but became startled when she did not let up the grip on the makeshift noose around his neck. After a short period of time, in which the Death Eaters blindly ran about, shouting for somebody to turn the lights back on, Rabastan fell limp. Miranda tossed him roughly aside, whip in hand and disgust evident on her face. She opened the door, slipped outside, and then closed it again. With a flick of her finger the door melted into the wall.

"Okay, come on," Miranda whispered breathlessly, leaning up against the door with all of her might, summoning her energy to cast a spell through the wall. After a few moments of inaudible mumbling she said loudly "_Venenus!_" and gasped.

She stepped away from the door and began running down the hallway, curls bouncing around her shoulders and whip in hand. She broke out into a run down the hallway in the direction of the place Harry was going and, when she looked over her shoulder to see if she was being followed, turned a corner and ran headlong into somebody. It was Severus, clutching his nunchucks in one hand and looking just as rushed as she.

"Hey Sev, fancy seeing you here!" Miranda said cheerfully, though anxiety was etched into her face.

At first it didn't seem as if Severus knew who he was talking to, and then his eyes widened behind his shades. He tore them off and stepped back. His jaw dropped as he took in his wife's rather incongruous and uncharacteristic appearance.

"_Miranda_?" he said, gaping. "Is that _you_? What the hell are you wearing?" he asked in slight disgust and disbelief. He sniffed the air. "Have you been _smoking_?"

"Heh heh, yeah," Miranda said all too quickly, her laugh uneasy. "Smoking and drinking and hanging out with a bunch of sleazy Death Eaters who, by the way, are all dead in some room with the door melted into the wall. Don't try go in there because the air is mostly Carbon Monoxide. Here, take this, I don't want it." she shoved the whip into his hand that didn't have the nunchucks in them. "I'd kiss you but I don't want to get this horrendous lipstick on your face and I don't think you'll be wanting to kiss me after what I just did. Have you got the key?"

Severus nodded dumbly and held up the key, which was wrapped around his wrist on a chain, his mouth slightly ajar in confusion. He looked as if he'd like to know exactly what she meant by 'what I just did', but he didn't get the chance to ask because she had already started off again.

"Good. Nice to see you bye!" She said in a rush, and ran off in the direction she had been heading, combat boots jingling all the way.

Severus stood where he had stopped as if frozen in place with shock and bewilderment. After a few seconds he shook his head vigorously, gave the whip a good crack, dropped it, and ran off in the direction of the place Christine was being kept.

-

At long last, Harry found himself in the right room. He peered through the vent and saw Voldemort sitting in a throne-like chair, accompanied by Peter Pettigrew. The temptation to kill Voldemort now was causing Harry some serious stress, but he knew he had to stay put.

A voice, Miranda's voice, suddenly echoed through his head.

"_Harry, can you hear me?_"

Harry jumped slightly before thinking hesitantly, "_Yes, I can hear you._"

"_Good,_" Miranda said. "_I just ran into Severus – literally. He's going to send Christine to wherever you are with the banishing portkey spell. You and I just have to wait while he does this. Where are you?_"

"_I'm in the air duct above Voldemort's room,_" Harry thought in reply, finding it very strange to communicate without speaking. "_How are we communicating like this? Can't everybody hear us?_"

"_No,_" Miranda said thoughtfully. "_I figured out how to make transmissions between two people alone so that nobody else can hear what is said. Anyway, I'm hiding out in the library, putting my dignity back together._"

Harry snorted.

"_How are you doing, Harry?_" Pressed Miranda.

"_Good, considering I'm stuck in an air duct and fighting the urge to kill Voldemort here and now._"

"_You mustn't, Harry_," Miranda warned sternly. "_Not yet. We must wait_. _We need to make a distraction for you_."

Suddenly Christine appeared at Harry's side and Harry almost yelled out. He smiled at Christine, who knew she mustn't speak, and told Miranda through their mental link that Christine was with him and alright. She replied gratefully and told him to be careful, and then she closed the link.

After some time the door opened and Severus strode into the room, escorting Miranda, who was in her normal attire again, was bound by the wrists and gagged, and was putting up quite the struggle against her husband. Voldemort rose from his throne at once and stood before Severus, his wand drawn and pointing at the greasy man that had just entered. Pettigrew, who had not forgotten his last encounter with Snape, cowered behind Voldemort.

"Ah, Severus, how nice to see you," Voldemort said in what he evidently thought was a pleasant voice. "Your child is charming."

Severus took out his wand and tossed it to the floor as a sign of surrendering.

"_My_ child, my Lord?" Severus said, looking genuinely confused. "No. Christine is not my child. I do not share the _Progenitor Veneficium_. This scum here was sleeping around long before _I_ met her." He gestured to Miranda. "My Lord, before you kill me if you chose to, I would like to explain myself."

Voldemort seemed to consider this for a moment before sitting lazily down in his throne-like chair, his wand still pointed at Severus.

"Very well then, Severus," Voldemort said, narrowing his snake-like eyes. "Enlighten me."

Severus bowed low, maintaining a firm grip on Miranda, before beginning his speech. Harry and Christine shared a quizzical look; neither of them knew what was going on.

"My Lord, I knew you wanted nothing more than the _Progenitor Veneficium_, and I hatched a plan to get it for you, but I could not disclose this plan. You see, Miranda Kent was always good at revealing lies. So I faked my death and tricked her into falling in love with me."

At this, Miranda gave a particularly hard jerk of her shoulder and made to kick Severus, but he stepped on her foot and held her still, seeming quite bored with her.

"She did not trust me, however, even after we were joined in matrimony – much like Albus Dumbledore, refusing to give me the Defense Against the Dark Art position. And anyway, once I gained her trust, which took many years, I saw Draco Malfoy skulking about outside our home. Needless to say, I knew what he had come for. I made sure to distract Miranda, granting Draco the perfect opportunity to kidnap the child. Afterwards I told Miranda I knew where they had taken the child and she gladly let me take her. She had no idea that I would be bringing her to you. And here we are."

Voldemort placed the tips of his long fingers together, thinking deeply before gesturing to Miranda and asking, "Why can she not use magic to free herself?"

Severus laughed coldly and Harry felt himself shudder involuntarily.

"I tricked her into drinking a magical draining draught this morning," he said cruelly, giving Miranda and extra jerk for effect.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes, as if performing Occlumency on Severus, but seemed to decide that his story was genuine. He grinned, revealing unnaturally-pointed canine teeth.

"Very well then, Severus, you have done well," Voldemort said. "But I do not think that –"

What Voldemort thought, nobody found out because at that moment, the door flew open again and Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and Rodolphus, the last remaining Death Eaters, strode in, wands drawn.

"My Lord, the child is gone!" Rodolphus yelled.

Voldemort stood and pointed his wand at Severus.

"You –!" he exclaimed, infuriated.

"Me!" Severus yelled in reply, and let go of Miranda.

The ropes holding Miranda disappeared at once and she and Severus sprung into action, the two of them using both hands to duel the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Peter Pettigrew was taken out first with an _Avada Kedavra_ from Severus' left hand while Severus blocked an attack from Voldemort with his right hand. Rodolphus began firing the killing curse at random, causing it to bounce off the walls and ceiling. Draco was struck by one of these wayward curses and fell to the ground, dead. Narcissa gave a horrified shriek and rushed over to her son. Consequently, Miranda hit her with an _Avada Kedavra_ and she, too, fell.

"_Now, Harry, now!_" Miranda exclaimed through the mental connection as she knocked Rodolphus unconscious, and Harry started.

He began to try and get out of the vent as quietly as he could to maintain the element of surprise. His brain was reeling. What if it didn't work? What if he couldn't kill? What if he died trying? Harry didn't know, but he did know that he had to try. He fumbled with the latch of the vent and it collapsed from underneath him and Christine, sending them both to the ground with a _crash_. As quick as he could, Harry summoned up every terrible thought that he had ever felt about Voldemort and thought of all the lives he'd changed for the worse. As he did so, Voldemort wheeled around and saw Harry.

_Mum, Dad, Sirius, Charlie, _Harry thought, letting the anger and desire to kill Voldemort engulf him. He didn't notice the tip of his wand turning a bright green, for he was thinking too hard, becoming overwhelmed by anger and hate and need for retribution. _The Weasleys, Miranda, Lupin, Hermione and_ –

"ME!" Harry yelled the last thought out loud and then pointed his wand at Voldemort, who had been forced to turn and dodge a killing curse from Miranda. "_AVADA KEDAVRA_!" Harry bellowed, and Voldemort spun around, trying to save himself.

But it was too late for Voldemort. The force of the curse hitting him straight in the chest not only killed him, but sent him flying backwards into the wall, narrowly missing hitting Severus in the head during the process. His body crashed into the wall, cracking the concrete as well as well as his skull, a sickly red light pouring from his eyes. He slid to the ground and crumpled in a heap, dead.

At the same time that Harry killed Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy pointed his wand at Miranda, who had let her guard down for a split second in light of the events that were taking place, and yelled, "_Crudesco Corporus!_"

Severus gave a shout and tried to deflect the curse, but he was too late. A blue beam of light hit Miranda squarely in the stomach and her breath was knocked out. She fell down on her knees, eyes wide with surprise, and gasped. A thousand knives were surely stabbing at her insides, ripping her apart from the inside out. She threw back her head and screamed in anguish, plummeting to the ground. Severus, in his rage, sent a beam of green light towards Lucius and it killed him instantly.

"No!" Severus yelled, not waiting to watch Lucius fall.

He darted over to his wife and picked her up.

"Get… out!" Miranda managed to choke out, her voice weakening.

Harry didn't need telling twice. He grabbed Christine's hand and pulled her towards the back door of the room, Severus in hot pursuit, his trench coat billowing behind him. Harry threw open the door and wrenched Christine through it, her sock-clad feet actually leaving the ground. Miranda's feet dangled limply, swaying back and fourth in her combat boots as Severus hurried out into the night.

The room they were in was more of an underground version of outside with a moat going around the building. It looked distinctly like a cave, in all actuality, and Harry wondered whether it was or not. A small orb of light could be seen at the end of the tunnel on the other side of the moat, and Harry assumed that this was the exit.

"Here, Potter, swim across. Quickly," Severus ordered, plunging into the water and taking Miranda with him, her weak arms wrapped around his neck. "Take Christine."

Harry, who was not all too keen on jumping into a mystery moat, got down on his knees.

"Climb on my back, Christine," Harry ordered.

Once Christine was safely attached to him, Harry fought to swim across the moat with the extra weight on him. He felt alarmingly like the time in the Triwizard Tournament when he had dragged two dead-weight bodies all the way up from the bottom of a lake. He spluttered and breathed with difficulty, but thought with determination, _if I carried two bodies when I was fourteen, one of which was my weight, I can carry a scrawny six-year-old now._

Severus got to the other side first, unscathed. He lifted Miranda out of the water first and then clambered out himself, dripping and breathing heavily. He picked Miranda up and lowered her gently to the ground a few feet from the water's edge.

"Severus," Miranda said so quietly that she could scarcely be heard. "Severus."

Severus took one of her hands in his and looked down at her where she lay on the cold, hard ground. A grave feeling, like ice, swept over him.

"I'm here, Miranda," said Severus. "Hold on, I'm going to get you home."

She shook her head vigorously and he furrowed his eyebrows. Miranda tried to speak several times, her breathing shallow. Severus squeezed her hand between his own. Harry climbed out of the water, panting with Christine holding him around the neck, but Severus paid them no attention; his dark eyes were glued on his wife, who was struggling to speak.

"You were right, Severus. My independence was my downfall," Miranda said weakly, a small trickle of blood dribbling down her chin. Severus suddenly felt sick.

Severus said, frantically, "No. Miranda, you're going to be fine; it was just a scratch. Just a wound. I can help you."

She shook her head again and more blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

"Severus," Miranda said even more quietly. "I'm d-dying."

His blood ran cold and his breath caught in his throat. He hurriedly wiped away the trickle of blood from her mouth, as if this gesture would take back her words. Shaking his head so that his greasy, wet hair flopped about his face, he refused to believe her.

"No," he said again. "No. You can't, Miranda, I need you here. I can help you. Just let me…" His voice was filled with desperation.

Miranda smiled weakly and laughed her sweet laugh. More blood ensued.

"I'm not afraid to die, I am ready," she said calmly, coughing slightly. More blood. "But you have to stay here. Stay with Christine."

"What are you saying?" Severus asked weakly, refusing to believe still.

"Listen to me," Miranda said, her throat catching on her breath. The grasp of her hand weakened. "Take care of Christine. Raise her well, Severus. Let her grow up to be big and strong, like you."

"Like you," replied Severus, eyes brimming. "I can't do it alone, Miranda. Christine needs you. _I_ need you. Here. With me. I can't make the choices on my own, I can't raise a child on my own – I need help."

"You can do it, Severus," Miranda whispered, her voice weakening more. "I know you can. You will not be alone."

His voice broke and he shook. He brushed her hair away that was plastered to her sweaty face, fingers shaking. He bent low and kissed her forehead gently, feeling her coldness spreading to him like a wire, hearing her shuddery breaths penetrate his brain, leaving nothing else to think about.

"I love you, Severus." Her voice was almost inaudible but she stared up at him with the same eyes.

"Don't go."

"I must. There's nothing you can d-do for me. If there was, I'd have it done. Tell Christine… tell her to be good and to try her best. Every day."

"I will."

He kissed her lips lightly, tasting the coppery substance that was splattered on them. Noting the considerable lack of strength in her fingers, he squeezed her hand. She tried to squeeze back, but her energy was draining now. The light was leaving her eyes.

"I love you, Severus," Miranda repeated.

"I love you, Miranda," he whispered a shaky reply. "I can't go on, I don't think. _I can't_."

"You won't be alone," she said, her breathing catching in her throat again. Her eyelids fluttered. "I'll always be…" her voice faded into nothing and, with one last breath, she closed her eyes and set her jaw.

Severus stared. If only she would open her eyes now and yell "April fools!" he might be willing to forgive her, because she couldn't be dead. And yet…

He looked down at the pale, cold hand that was in his own and knew that if she was alive, Miranda would have squeezed his hand in return by now. And then it hit him. No more witty comments, no more comforting embraces, no more Floyd Fridays.

"No," he said hoarsely, desperately, resting his shaking fingertips on her temples. "_Episkey_! _Sanous_! _Salveus_!"

He tried desperately every healing spell he knew, but somewhere deep inside him he knew that there was no spell to save the dead. Before he knew what was happening, hot tears were escaping from his eyes and sliding down his face, dripping from his hooked nose and splashing down his front. He kissed her chilled fingertips, fighting to keep the sob down that threatened to burst forth from his chest. Without caring that he was still utterly vulnerable to attack, he let his head fall into his hands and he wept. It seemed that Miranda's luck had finally run out.

* * *

A/N: Okay, that chapter was too long for me. 

Some poor Latin translations for you to understand some of the spells and whatnot that I invented are here.

_Sanous_ – to heal

_Salveus_ – to be well and in good health.

_Crudesco Corporus_ – "to be violent to the corpse"

_Venenus - poison_

Anyway, I'm leaving on Friday and I won't be back for about three weeks, so don't expect anything more from me if there's nothing by Friday night. Sorry for the whole 'dying sappiness' thing. It was utterly necessary and I wouldn't change it for the world… okay, well maybe not the world. But I wouldn't change it for a lot of stuff.

Oh yes, and I apologize to anybody with the name Trixie who might have been offended with my comment. I wasn't making fun of your name, it's an inside joke. Sorry.


	8. Never Say Goodbye

A/N: Er, lotsa Harry/Ginny in this chapter. What can I say? I 'luff em. I currently feel like a murderer, so a lot of this chapter was written under the influence of Pink Floyd, which makes me feel happy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing (including Pink Floyd)… though especially not Harry Potter

Happy Reading!

* * *

**Chapter 8 – Never Say Goodbye**

Harry could not have possibly felt worse. Miranda, dead? It didn't seem possible, not when she had been so full of life and hope and energy. But there she was, soaking wet like the rest of them, not breathing and not, well, living. And then there was Snape, weeping into his hands next to his wife. Christine whimpered and hugged Harry, her arms around his neck. He could feel her tears as they dripped onto his arm and he hugged her, knowing exactly how it felt to lose a family member, a parent. But Harry had never lost a spouse, and the sadness was tearing him apart.

Snape stood and straightened up, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his trench coat so that Harry could not see his tears.

"Potter," he said slowly, trying to keep his voice from shaking, not turning around. "Take M-Miranda and Christine both to the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters. Tell them there – tell them what happened. Tell Albus."

"Yes sir," replied Harry quietly, wiping a tear from the tip of his nose.

"I have… matters… to attend to."

"Yes sir."

Snape stared down at Miranda for a moment longer, his breathing not quite patterned, before turning on his heel and disapparating with a _crack_. Harry sat Christine down on her feet and quickly walked over to Miranda's body, his wet feet making an odd squelching noise on the cold ground. With a grunt, he picked her up in his arms, a frown darkening his features. A strange pain went through his scar as he picked up the dead woman, but he shook it off. More important things needed to be addressed at this moment. He turned to Christine. She stood back where he had left her, sadness overwhelming her face and tears freely falling down it. She couldn't quite grasp what was happening now, but she knew enough not to ask when Mummy was coming home this time.

"Christine," Harry said gently, feeling a tear slide down the side of his face and into his mouth. He tasted the saltiness and bitterly thought of the Death Eaters and their dead bodies laying in the room closest to him. "Grab hold of my leg."

Christine nodded and hurried forward, dripping water over the ground as she did so. She wrapped her arms around his left leg and held on tightly, not liking apparition any more than Harry. With one last glance at Miranda's pale face, he looked ahead and apparated.

Harry, Christine and Miranda appeared outside Grimmauld Place and, since Harry's arms were full, he told Christine to ring the doorbell, not caring in the slightest that Sirius' mum was going to begin screaming. Christine did as she was told and then stepped away from the door and grabbed hold of Harry's leg again. Harry could see that she was afraid of this place, and he couldn't blame her. He shuddered involuntarily.

The door opened a crack and Mrs. Weasley peered out. When she saw it was Harry she gasped and threw open the door.

"Harry dear! We've been worried sick and –" her eyes fell on the limp figure in Harry's arms and her eyes widened. "Miranda. Is she…?"

Mrs. Weasley looked slowly back up at Harry, who nodded. Mrs. Weasley gasped and quickly ushered Harry into the building, noticing Christine for the first time and clasping a hand to her mouth to keep from crying. Harry could hear Mrs. Black screaming profanities and insults, but did not look to see. He found that he did not care; a numbness only death could bring was seeping into Harry's brain, fogging everything else.

"In here, Harry," she said in a squeaky whisper, leading Harry into the sitting room.

Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt appeared at the top of the stairs, presumably having just finished with the portrait. Tonks, whose hair was long, pink and curly today, looked exactly the same as Harry had remembered with the exception that she was about nine months pregnant. Harry didn't spare them a glance, however, as he walked briskly on. Tonks and Shacklebolt stared.

Harry followed Mrs. Weasley into the sitting room and placed Miranda down on the couch as gently as he could, wishing that his bottom lip would stop trembling. Christine followed, tears liberally sliding down her face. Harry suddenly felt weakened.

"I need something to drink," he muttered and walked away and into the kitchen, leaving Christine and Mrs Weasley behind.

The moment he stepped foot into the depressingly dark kitchen there was a shriek and he suddenly found himself engulfed in red and being knocked onto the floor.

"Ginny!" he gasped, staring up at the woman on top of him.

Ginny, grinning and crying at the same time, climbed off of Harry. They leapt to their feet at the same time and he embraced her in his arms. Every miserable thought was swept away for the first time as he held her close and inhaled her scent, feeling her tears fall from her eyes and onto his neck. She pulled away and he kissed her, not caring that she was crying and shaking because he was, too. The ecstasy that he felt at that moment with Ginny back in his arms was so overwhelming he was sure he was radiating it; his heart had never felt so light.

"Marry me, Ginny," he murmured into her ear, embracing her again and running his fingers through her silky tresses.

"Of course, Harry," she replied, her eyes still shedding tears.

She pulled away from him again and kissed him softly, her smile fading.

"Dumbledore told us what had happened and then I got your letter and I was just so scared," Ginny said in a rush. She shook her head, sending teardrops onto Harry's face, and placed a hand on Harry's cheek, seeking comfort in the warmth of his skin – it was like a reassurance that he was really alive. Her expression changed to relief. "I didn't bother looking to see who was at the door, what with Order members coming in and out all the time." Her words left her mouth quickly. "But you're okay! All of you, right?"

Harry suddenly felt reality smack him in the face again. Ginny must have noticed this change in expression because she covered her mouth in horror much like her mother had. Her brown eyes were wide.

"Who…?" she asked, but Harry didn't reply. His eyes flickered toward the door and she turned around. "Not Christine?" Ginny asked in apprehension, limbs shaking.

"Miranda," Harry said in a slightly strained voice, shaking his head.

Ginny's chin trembled and she fled from the kitchen in the direction of the sitting room with Harry at her heels. He was not looking forward to this and wondered what Snape was up to, thinking that if anybody had the right to grieve, it was him.

-

Severus managed to apparate to the front door of his house without splinching himself. He undid the wards on the house and stepped inside, feeling emptier than he had ever felt before. Why, he asked himself, did good things always have to turn bad on him? Was he doomed to a miserable life? Was Christine? He pulled off his dripping trench coat and tried to magically untie his shoelaces, but didn't succeed. Apparently he was going through another emotional upheaval, one that was sapping him of his magic.

_What a stupid idea, the _Progenitor Veneficium_. Damn you, Rowena_, Severus thought bitterly, not bothering to take off his boots. _You greedy, stupid wife-killer_. Yes, blaming his troubles on a person who had died centuries ago was a very appealing prospect at this time.

He crossed the room, absently twisting the wedding band on his finger and feeling a plummeting sensation in the pit of his stomach as the Muggle Trish's _Dark Side of the Moon_ album caught his eye. Face devoid of expression, he opened the glass door of the cabinet and took out the album.

"Floyd Friday," he spat, turning the package over and sliding the record out into his pale hands. "What a stupid idea."

He took out the disk and put it on the player before starting it and turning his back on the record player. The full reality of what was happening to him was starting to sink in, but he didn't want it to. He rubbed his temples in agitation, willing away the memory and the thought of Miranda. He didn't want to think about it, and there was only one way to keep from it. The idea of thinking in general didn't please him at that moment.

Slowly at first and then with acceleration, Severus found his legs carrying him over to the hutch in which any alcohol was safely locked away from Christine. He tried to open it with magic again, thinking that maybe the _Progenitor Veneficium_ would overcome his disability, but the hutch remained locked. Finally he grew so fed up that he aimed a good kick at the wooden door with his steel-toed combat boot and broke the door in.

Panting slightly, he pulled open the broken door and took out a bottle of Firewhiskey. He smoothed a hand over the dusty bottle and cradled it gently in his hands, reading the label. After popping the cork off, he raised the bottle like a glass and made a toast.

"To your health, Miranda," he said quietly, closed his eyes, and drank.

_Yes_, Severus thought grimly as he lowered the dusty bottle, _this night will be a long one_.

-

Miranda's body had been moved to a better location, Harry felt, for his own sanity. He didn't think he could bring himself to look at her again; it was too much like losing a mother. She'd been like a mother to him these last months, caring for him and tutoring him. Like a mother. Like a mentor. Like a friend.

His green eyes roamed the room and landed on Ron and Hermione, who had come over as soon as Ginny had told him that Harry was back. They had demanded to know the entire story from start to finish and he was just finishing. Thus far, nobody in the room had asked a single question. For this, Harry was grateful.

"…and then he said he had matters to attend to and he left," Harry said in a dull voice, accepting a steaming mug of hot chocolate from Lupin. "I just did what he told me to do. And that's it."

Harry let his head fall down slightly and his gaze fell on the weapon still holstered around his waist. He unbuckled the stiletto and took it off, aware that Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Lupin, Tonks, Shacklebolt and Mrs. Weasley were all watching him. He unsheathed the stiletto and looked at the shining blade, glad the he hadn't needed to use it, especially not in front of Christine, who he thought was far too young to have seen death. At this particular time she was in Lupin's room, asleep under the influence of a dreamless sleep potion.

"So that's it," Ron said in a slightly awed voice, despite his apparent sadness. "It's over. V-Voldemort's gone?"

Harry looked up in amazement; Ron had never before used Voldemort's name. Ron seemed surprised with himself as well, and Hermione squeezed his hand in a comforting gesture. Harry, who had momentarily forgotten that Ron had asked him a question, nodded as he snapped back to reality.

"Yeah, he's gone," Harry said monotonously. "Only we've still got the Death Eaters to worry about. I don't know if Miranda –" he faltered slightly as he said her name, remembering that she was gone "– killed any. When we spoke through the mental link she said something about 'regaining her dignity' or something like that. I can only imagine she had to do something drastic to get into Headquarters and get past all those Death Eaters alive. The only ones I saw die were Wormtail," Lupin's eye twitched slightly and he gripped Tonks' shoulder tighter, "The three Malfoys and Lestrange."

"And Voldemort," Hermione added quietly, and Harry nodded.

"And Voldemort."

Harry glanced to his left where Ginny was seated, staring at him with concern. He tried to force a smile but he seemed sort of strained. He sheathed the stiletto and placed it beside his untouched hot chocolate.

"I think I'm going to go to bed," he said suddenly, standing up.

Ginny made to stand as well, but Hermione caught her eye and jerked her head. The redhead opened her mouth to protest, but instead crossed her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes in a huff. Harry, without waiting for approval, started for the stairs. Seven pairs of eyes followed him to the bottom of the stairs and, as his hand touched the banister, a thought struck him. He cursed and turned around.

"All my stuff is still at – at the house," he said in a low voice. "I'm going to get it."

Lupin rose from his seat on the couch suddenly.

"I'll come with you," he said hoarsely, speaking for the first time in a while.

Harry shook his head, the sinking feeling coming again to his heart.

"No," he said, "I can take care of it. I'll come back if I need help."

Lupin opened his mouth to protest, but Tonks took this opportunity to pull him back down onto the couch. Harry felt a surge of gratitude to the pregnant Auror – she understood how he was feeling somehow, though he wasn't sure how, and he was not in the mood to talk to anybody at the moment. He would just go back to the house, get his belongings, and come right back. Then he would go to his room and try to sleep, maybe after taking a leaf out of Christine's book and having a swig of dreamless sleep potion. With this new thought to comfort him, Harry left the house and apparated away.

Harry walked into the house that he had inhabited for the last months and saw something rather shocking. It was Snape, sitting in an armchair. Only, this was a side of Snape Harry had never known existed, never mind seen. In one hand Snape was holding a large bottle of firewhiskey. The floor was littered with empty bottles; it seemed as if Snape was trying to drink his way through the entire house. In the other hand was a bottle of Butterbeer. He was staring off into nowhere, his expression distant and tired. Harry cautiously took a step forward, hearing the faint sounds of Pink Floyd playing on the record player in the background.

"Sir?"

Snape did nothing. Harry, abandoning all pretenses, strode forward and stopped in front of Snape, thanking whatever higher power that Christine was not around to witness this. He called Snape again and only when he waved a hand energetically in front of Snape's face did he get an answer.

"'Ello, Otter."

Harry nearly jumped out of his skin. Snape turned his head and faced Harry with a pleasant expression and Harry saw that Snape's glazed eyes had dark circles around them and that he was beyond pale.

"Care for a drink, Pothead?" Snape said, offering a bottle.

"Er – no thanks," Harry said slowly, trying not to cough as he got a whiff of Snape's stale alcohol breath.

"More fer me then," Snape slurred, and raised the firewhiskey bottle to his lips.

Harry reached out and snatched it away from the drunken man, saying, "On the other hand, Sir, I think I will have one."

He quickly vanished the bottle and tried to coax Snape into doing something other than drinking.

"Don't you think you should be – er, getting to bed?" asked Harry uneasily.

Snape laughed.

"I don't need to sleep, Potterhead," Snape said thickly. "Don't wanna sleep no more. Nope. Don't need to, ya see? 'Cos I'ma join the Death Eaters."

This didn't make sense to Harry in the slightest and he was left unsure of what to do next. Snape didn't seem to care, though, for he began talking to Harry as if they were best friends.

"Good days," Snape said, facing forward. "Torturin' and stuff. Relaying prophecies. We all went out one night and had a few. Then we got these tattoos, see?" He pulled back the sleeve of his left arm and showed Harry the Dark Mark, which had faded slightly now that the person who put it there was dead. "There was this one girl. Lilac Evans, or something like that. Yeah. She was something all right. Fine piece of work. You shoulda seen her, 'Arry, she was a beauty."

Harry felt slightly sick now.

"Yep, then I killed her… or something like that," Snape continued as if it were a fond memory. He hiccupped, spilling his Butterbeer down his front. He didn't seem to notice. He turned to Harry again. "I always liked you, Pot'ead. Always a joker. We was always the best of friends, huh?"

"Er," Harry began, a pained expression on his face. What was he supposed to do? "Yeah. Best friends, Sir."

"Why're you callin me 'sir'? What _is_ that bullshit?" slurred Snape. "Call me Sev. I like that. Miranda called me that and I always said, 'yeah, I like that'. And she did, you know. Always did… and I… well…"

He went to drink from his Butterbeer bottle but Harry snatched that away. He thought that perhaps Snape would give up if he had nothing left to drink and would have gladly taken a screaming match instead of this. Snape, unperturbed by the vanishing of his liquor, merely grabbed a new bottle of firewhiskey from between the cushions of the armchair in which he sat. He popped the cork off and drank from that before Harry could do anything. He hiccupped again and when Harry made a wild attempt to grab the bottle out of his hand he pulled it away. Harry swatted at the air and fell over the chair. Snape took no notice of this.

"Vinegar and salt chips," Snape slurred. "You have _got_ to try those. Miranda used to love 'em. All salty and such. Kind of like the Lark Dord. Voldie. Now he's a funny guy – we used to have the best times, Potty, the best. Can't wait to go and see 'im again. I got this really funny joke, wanna hear it?"  
"Er –" Harry began awkwardly, but Snape had plowed on.

"There's this hag and she goes to this woman," Snape began, but suddenly stopped and looked at Harry. "Don't trust women, Pothead, they'll break you up into a thousand mini pieces and stomp all over ya. Bam!" Snape threw his arms up in the air, spilling firewhiskey all over himself. "I had a woman once, and a fine one. She was the best, lemme tell you. Good at eatin' an' talking and – and livin'. She lied to me," he continued, staring off into space. "She said she'd always be there to help me, but she lied. She's dead. I killed her."

Harry wasn't sure to say, nor was he sure that saying anything would be helpful. He had the distinct impression that Snape would _not_ remember this in the morning.

"Yep, that's right. Didn't get there quick enough and then she was hexed, ya see, right in the middle. Here." Snape gestured to his abdomen. "And then she died and she said 'Sev, ol buddy, I'm goin to a better place now. No more lyin an' no more badness.

Hell, I'ma join her, I think. Right after this firewhiskey. It's good stuff, lemme tell you…"

Harry, who became very much alarmed when Snape said "I'ma join her", quickly did the first thing that came to mind. He stupefied his ex-Professor. The firewhiskey bottle fell to the floor and spilled its contents everywhere. Harry stood there, not quite sure what to do next, so he put a sleeping charm and a sheet (because he couldn't bear to look at him) on Snape and went to get Lupin for help.

-

Severus awoke the next morning feeling as if he'd been run over by a tractor. With a moan he sat up, rubbing the side of his head and looking about the room. Where was he, anyway? A glance at the moth-eaten curtains and dismal atmosphere explained to him that he was somewhere at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters. He hiccupped.

What had happened last night? He couldn't remember. And then it struck him. Miranda had been killed and he had gone and gotten royally wasted.

_Ugh_, he thought miserably as he heaved himself out of bed. His brain felt like it had been spun around in circles. _If I never see another bottle of Firewhiskey again, I'll have seen one too soon._

The door to the bedroom opened and Harry entered, carrying a tray of food.

"Mrs. Weasley sent me to give you breakfast, Sir," Harry said awkwardly, trying his best not to look suspicious.

Severus wasn't fooled. He narrowed his eyes as Harry bustled about, placing the tray on the bedside table and scooping up random objects from the floor.

"Potter, what happened last night? How did I get here?" Snape asked in a dangerous voice.

Harry dropped the lamp he had picked up off the floor in a convulsive way. He straightened up and set his green eyes on his ex-Professor, not really wanting to discuss the drunken escapade they had encountered.

"Nothing, Sir," Harry said in an unconvincing tone. "Shouldn't you –"

"Don't lie to me, Potter," Severus snapped. "What did I say?"

Harry backed towards the door, uncomfortable beyond measure.

"Er, the funeral's today, Sir. Your robes are on – on the hanger," Harry said in a rush, groping about behind him for the door handle. "Oh, I think I hear Ginny calling me. See you around, Sir."

Harry opened the door and left before Severus could say a word. He sighed and fell back on the bed, thinking that he had never seen Harry depart so quickly.

"Funeral, here I come."

-

Said funeral was to be a small one, with only a handful of people invited, including the Weasleys, the Lupins, and any Order member who had known Miranda personally. They were to gather at the Burrow, where they would pay their last respects and then she would be buried in a small graveyard just south of London.

Everybody but Christine, Harry and Ginny had apparated to the Burrow. Christine would be taken by Ginny, as Harry was suffering from post-_Avada Kedavra_ magical exhaustion. Ginny came up from behind him as he stood at the mirror and wrapped an arm around his waist. He sighed and smiled weakly as Ginny rested her chin on his shoulder.

"We should go, Ginny," he said, making a half-hearted attempt to flatten his hair with the palm of his hand.

"I know," Ginny replied, kissing his neck.

Harry shuddered but otherwise showed no sign of notice.

"I don't want to say goodbye," he said quietly, not looking at the redhead beside him; he felt almost ashamed for saying it, like he was showing weakness.

"Never say goodbye, Harry," said Ginny reassuringly. "It's not goodbye, after all. Not really. I mean, we all die someday, don't we?"

Harry shrugged, not exactly feeling comforted from her words. He suddenly felt a strange twinge in his scar and touched his fingertips to it. Ginny noticed and furrowed her brows.

"Are you alright, Harry?" she asked nervously.

"Yeah, just a twinge," replied Harry, leaning closer to better inspect his confused-looking reflection. His eyes widened in surprise. "Hey, my scar!"

"What's wrong with it?"

Ginny pulled him around forcefully and stood on tiptoe to better scrutinize her fiancé's forehead.

"It's gone!" exclaimed Ginny, pushing his hair back away from his forehead as if to check if the scar had moved.

"Well, that explains the twinge," Harry said, shrugging once. "Come on, we can talk about this later." He turned and began walking to the doorway, Ginny's hand intertwined in his. "Christine?"

Christine appeared in the doorway, clad in a simple black dress and matching shoes. Her coffee-colored hair had been pinned back by Mrs. Weasley and she looked very pretty despite the fact that she was frowning deeply. Harry grimaced slightly but Ginny took control of the situation. She dropped to her knees and opened her arms, the corners of her mouth twitching downwards as the little girl jumped into them and embraced her.

"Come on, Christine," Ginny said gently, standing up. "Daddy's waiting for you."

With one last nod to Harry, Ginny disapparated with Christine. Harry unconsciously ran a hand through his hair, making it messier than before.

"She's so good with kids," he said in a slightly unsure voice, sighing.

He looked around the room one last time before turning on his heel.

-

The funeral procession was smooth. Harry, Severus, Ron and Remus carried the casket down the rows of chairs that had been assembled on the Burrow's back lawn and placed it on the table. Albus made a short speech and tears were shed by all except for Severus. For some reason he could not allow himself to shed tears and merely sat there, stony-faced and solemn. Nor did he reply to the condolences he received for his loss. Christine sat beside him and sniffled throughout the funeral, her eyes fixed upon the casket at the head of the table.

When the time came to pass by the open casket and say the final goodbyes, Severus found that he could not stand. He did not want to say goodbye, for that meant giving in. Harry waited for him, however, and eventually he did stand. With legs of lead, Severus walked up the lawn and joined the line that wound past Miranda in her casket.

Whether time had fast forwarded or whether he had blanked out Severus did not know, but before he knew it he was standing in front of his wife's casket, looking down upon her with a blank expression. Harry stood behind him in line, watching as Severus stared down at Miranda. The man raised a hand and touched the side of her face gently, marveling at the beautiful makeup job whoever had worked on Miranda had done; her face had its normal color as did her lips, which were full and delicately colored.

"You look beautiful," he murmured, moving his fingers through her hair and taking in her appearance. She was dressed in a simple shirt and her jeans, and her ever-faithful, original combat boots were laced up on her feet, though her sock was visible as the sole of the left boot was gone. "Almost like you're alive," he continued, and placed a hand on her face again, marveling at the warmth in her skin.

She was so warm that it was hard for Severus to believe that she was dead. So hard in fact that he was suddenly struck with an impossible thought. He narrowed his eyes and placed the tips of his index and middle fingers just below her jaw. His heart nearly stopped.

"Potter," he said quietly, not taking his eyes off Miranda.

"Yes, Sir?" replied Harry, looking nervously at the greasy-haired man before him.

"Do I look well to you?" asked Severus.

Harry eyed his ex-Professor warily, taking in his appearance before saying, "I guess, Sir."

"Not delusional or…" Severus searched for the right word. "Crazy?"

"Not any more than usual, Sir." Severus tore his eyes off Miranda and turned his gaze upon Harry, who looked genuinely confused. "What?" Harry asked.

Severus looked back down at Miranda and held his fingertips just above her mouth, which was the slightest bit ajar. He felt the slightest warm rush of air. She was _breathing_. He looked back at the nonplussed Harry and furrowed his eyebrows, not sure if he could believe his own words.

"She's alive."

Harry gaped. He figured that Snape was probably just in denial or he was just being delusional. And yet, Snape looked perfectly normal, besides just a little hung over. A few seconds passed and Harry realized that his jaw was slack. He closed him mouth, swallowed, and looked at Miranda. She sure looked alive enough, though her expression was completely passive, as if she was sleeping. He didn't quite know what to say, so he merely moved closer to the casket. Snape shifted sideways to allow Harry to see for himself, and he placed a hand on her neck. Sure enough, a faint pulse thumped beneath his fingertips. His mouth fell open again.

"How…?" Harry said in disbelief. "She was dead – I'm sure of it. Do you think the potion –?" he turned his eyes on Snape, who had the same expression as he. "But she took it months ago, and – and it was only supposed to lock the _Avada Kedavra_."

Snape appeared to be in deep thought.

"Dittany," he said quietly, "is a healing ingredient, often used by Muggles as an old remedy for stomach sickness. The spell that hit her - _Crudesco Corporis _– was a spell to destroy a person from the inside, out." both Severus and Harry's eyes fell on Miranda's hand. It had twitched just a moment before. Severus closed his eyes, thinking of a possible explanation. "And – and sulphite. Sulphite and sodium benzoate are preservatives, made to make the potion last for a long time in a jar or a container. I didn't know it worked _inside_ the body."

"Is something wrong?"

Harry and Severus turned their heads in unison to see Ginny watching the both of them with a worried expression. They said nothing in reply, but both turned again to Miranda. Ginny looked upon her as well, and then her eyes widened in shock as she saw Miranda take a suddenly deep breath.

"Great googamooga!" she exclaimed, backing off a step. "It can't be!"

This comment attracted the attention of all nearby people. Soon Severus found that he and Harry were no longer the only ones surrounding the casket, but everybody at the funeral was trying to get a better look, Christine included. Harry scooped her up and placed her on his shoulders, not taking his eyes off the person they had all thought to be dead.

_No_, he insisted stubbornly to himself. _She _was_ dead, I _know_ she was!_

Mrs. Weasley clapped a hand over her mouth and leaned back against Mr. Weasley to keep from fainting. Severus gripped the edge of the casket so tightly that he felt a slight sting and his knuckles were white. Miranda slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Her eyes landed first on Mr. and Mrs Weasley.

"I don't think this is Heaven," she said in a weak voice, just as confused as everybody else. "Unless you're all dead, and in that case, I know a few of you wouldn't be in Heaven, therefore causing me to believe that I must be in Hell."

"Unless none of us are actually dead," Ron pointed out.

"But you _were_ dead," Harry said, still unable to believe it.

Miranda looked down and saw that she was in a casket. She shuddered.

"Well that would explain the coffin," she said with a grimace and began inspecting herself; prodding herself in the abdomen and looking at her arms as if she was having a hard time believing that she was alive. "I _feel_ dead, I can tell you that much." She looked up from her hands and saw Severus, who still had his white-knuckled grip on the side of the casket. "_You_ look dead, Severus."

He didn't reply right away, but continued to stare at Miranda as if he was waiting for her to drop dead again.

Finally he replied, "You don't."

Nobody said anything at first, and then Severus slowly let go of the edge of the casket and held out a hand. Miranda, her expression blank and her eyes fixed on her husband, took his hand and allowed him to help her get on her knees, which felt very stiff after having not been used for over twenty-four hours.

"You were dead," he muttered to her, expression blank and brain reeling. Though he knew he would be the happiest man alive soon, the full blast of reality hadn't yet kicked in; he had just spent a day telling himself that his wife was dead, after all.

Miranda laughed and remarked, "Ha! You think something as simple as death could keep me away from you, Severus Snape? Well guess again!"

With that, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. Euphoric beyond measure, he lifted her out of the casket and placed her on the ground. Only when something ran headlong into Miranda, knocking her to the ground, did they break apart. It was Christine.

"Mummy's home!" Christine screeched, hugging her mother tightly.

"Yes, Christine," Miranda said, grinning broadly and not bothering to fight the tears that were surfacing. "Mummy is home."

* * *

A/N: Yay, now I feel a little less morbid. Drunken Snape is so much fun to write – no need to stay on-topic.

Also, though I hate to say it due to an incorrigible independance streak, I need a beta to help with my atrocious spelling and grammar. If you're interested, send me a PM or an email or something. I'd rather have somebody be interested and ask methan go around begging, so no need to fear. Thanks!


	9. What A Coincidence

A/N: I spent so much time on this chapter during my vacation that somebody threatened to chuck my laptop into the abyss. But, hours and countless rootbeers later, it's done. So pull up a chair and get yourself a coffee or a Smirnoff or whatever is it you like to drink when you read, and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing… especially not Harry Potter.

Happy Reading!

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**Chapter Nine – What a Coincidence**

"Oh _no_," Miranda said dramatically, smiling and clapping her hands together as she stood over the stove. "Christine doesn't want any bacon. Looks like I'll just have to eat all of it on my own. What a bloody _shame_."

She picked up a piece and was directing it towards her mouth when someone walked by and snatched it away. Eyes wide, she spun around to face her thief.

"And who would I be to make you go through with that after your grueling ordeal?" Severus said in a falsely important voice. "That would be… unkind of me."

With that, he took the entire plate of bacon and walked off, smirking. Miranda narrowed her eyes and glowered at his retreating back. Being alive again had given her an appreciation of life that even being in hiding had not been able to give. Not only had she learned to appreciate her life even more, but she had also realized just how many projects she had left unfinished. She had a half-finished book to write and, most importantly, a daughter to raise.

Speaking of which, Christine was supposed to be under the careful eye of Harry while Miranda recovered, for the last few days had left her drowsy and confused. However, Harry was nowhere to be seen when Christine came running into the room, yelling at the top of her lungs and flailing around. Miranda watched, amused, as her daughter ran headlong into the table, screaming all the way. Her head hit the table and she fell straight backwards onto the ground. Miranda watched as Christine got back up, rubbed her forehead, which was now sporting a large bump, and ran off again, screaming with apparent enjoyment at the ruckus. Elsewhere, the portrait of Mrs. Black began screaming profanities.

Harry came into the kitchen next, panting slightly.

"Where's Christine?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe to catch his breath.

Miranda pointed a finger in the direction Christine had run off in.

"What did you give her, Harry, a bag of pure sugar?" she teased. He shook his head warily and pulled out a cigarette box. He tossed it to her and she gaped. "You gave her _smokes_?"

Harry laughed and gestured again to the package in Miranda's hands. She looked down.

"Ah, I see. Candy cigarettes." Miranda inspected the packaging and opened the box, taking one of the thin white confections out and inspecting it. "Are these Muggle candies?"

Harry nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "I got them a while back, though I wouldn't have given Christine a box if I had known that they would have _that_ reaction."

Miranda laughed and brought the box to eye level, and a thought occurred to her. She gestured to the box and shook it slightly.

"Mind if I hold on to these?"

Harry held up his hands and backed away a step.

"By all means, keep them," he said, glad to give them away. "Now I have a query to catch, if you don't mind."

"Not in the least, Harry."

Harry darted off in the direction Christine had disappeared. Miranda looked at the box again, biting her lip thoughtfully, and then pocketed it.

-

The last few days had gone by fast for Severus, leaving him only with snatches of emotion and flashes of events to dwell upon. He had both lost and gotten his wife back; killed numerous Death Eaters; tricked the Dark Lord yet again and witnessed his death; saved his family and even gotten along with Potter (which he did not consider a feat or a good thing, but it had happened nonetheless). He had no intention of remaining friendly with Potter of course, for he still hated him, but even Severus had to admit that Potter had been a good crutch during a time of wounds.

They had vacated their home for the time being as Albus had deemed it unsafe and were currently residing at Grimmauld Place. Christine, unlike her father, had welcomed the change in open arms and was fascinated by the house and everything in it. For some reason, unknown by neither Severus nor Miranda, the young girl had taken an alarming interest in the portrait of Mrs. Black. She found the screaming woman to be amusing and often spent a lot of time tormenting and teasing it.

Christine seated herself in front of the moth-eaten curtains, Miranda's old wand poised in her hand. She looked to the left and right to make sure that nobody was around to get annoyed, and then smacked her lips loudly. Nothing. She did it again, louder this time, and the curtains flew open.

"HOW DARE YOU INTRUDERS BESMIRCH THE NOBLE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS?" The portrait screamed, spittle flying from its mouth and Mrs. Black's bloodshot eyes bulging. "HALF-BREEDS AND FILTH BRINGING THEIR OFFSPRING INTO MY MIDST, SOILING THE QUARTERS AND TARNISHING THE NOBLE BLACK REPUTATION!"

Christine took careful aim with the wand, one eye closed and tongue poking out as if she was aiming a rifle. She looked alarmingly like her mother, full of concentration.

"Ready," she muttered, "aim… FIRE!"

A purple jet of light shot out from the tip of the wand and hit the screaming portrait, causing Mrs. Black to stop her rant abruptly and look around in alarm. Slowly at first but with gaining momentum, the portrait slid down the wall and fell over with a _thunk_. Mrs. Black began screaming again, only this time her voice was muffled as her face was on the floor. Satisfied, Christine clicked her tongue, pocketed the wand and marched off to get some apple juice. Tonks strode into the hall and when she saw the portrait on the ground, gasped.

"Remus!"

Remus appeared in the doorway moments later, looking alarmed.

"What is it?" he asked. "Is it time?"

Tonks looked at him curiously for a moment and then realized that he was talking about her pregnancy. She laughed and pointed at the bare wall. Remus stared.

"How did you do that?" Remus was baffled.

Tonks shrugged and replied, "I didn't. I heard it screaming and came to deal with it. It's going 'off the wall', so to speak." She laughed at her own joke.

Remus laughed as well and opened his arms, exhausted. His wife entered them and he enveloped her, kissing her forehead.

"You're so funny," he teased mockingly.

She stuck her tongue out at him and poked him in the ribs. Her smile faded suddenly and she gasped slightly, her hand landing on her abdomen.

"Uh oh," she said in a weakened voice. "Remus, _now_ it's time."

Remus paled and he scooped his pregnant wife up in his arms and carried her into the kitchen, where Molly was sitting with Hermione. The two women looked up in alarm and then jumped to their feet.

"Is it time?" Molly asked. When Remus nodded, she gasped in excitement and began bustling around. "Well go on, then! We'll meet you at St. Mungo's. Go!"

Remus spun around on the spot and vanished with Tonks in his arms. Hermione and Mrs. Weasley shared an excited look and began hurrying about, gathering needed things for the birth. Hermione gave an exasperated cry.

"Where _is_ he? He's been gone for an hour!" she said.

Her question was answered when Ron burst through the door, grinning. He crossed the room and hugged a startled Hermione.

"Hey Hermione!" he said cheerfully. "I have a question to ask you."

She gave him a peck on the cheek hurriedly and replied, "Can't now, Ron, Tonks is having the baby. Here." She tossed a knapsack at a bewildered Ron and it landed on his head. "Fill that with some food – we might need it if this takes a long time."

"Oh, okay," Ron said slowly, disappointed about something as he pulled the knapsack off his head.

He ran a hand through his fiery hair and shrugged, then began taking orders from the women. His question would have to wait until he had her fullest attention.

-

Severus was carrying a jar of something green and slimy up the stairs when somebody ran headlong into him, causing him to drop the jar. It hit the stairs with a crash and the person fell to the ground whilst Severus managed to keep his balance. Ron picked himself up and quickly repaired the jar and magicked the contents back into it.

"Sorry, Professor," Ron said in a hurry, bending over and picking up the jar.

"What's the hurry, Weasley?" Severus asked, taking the jar.

Ron glanced over his shoulder quickly and then turned back to his expressionless ex-Professor.

"Er," Ron said. "Well, sir, Tonks just went into labor –"

"Ah, I see," Severus interjected. "Well proceed, Weasley, before the women skin you alive."

Ron looked relieved and slightly confused by the lack of rudeness from Snape.

"Thanks, sir," Ron said hesitantly, and then continued down the stairs when Severus stepped aside to let him pass. He stopped after a few steps, however, and turned back around. "And, Professor?"

Severus turned to listen.

"Er, my Mum said that it'd be better for Miranda and you and Christine not to go because of – because she might be kind of weak, still."

There was a brief pause, in which Severus stared callously at Ron and Ron looked uncomfortable.

"Thank you, Mister Weasley."

Ron nodded once and went on his way.

Severus continued up the stairs and opened his bedroom door. He stopped dead when he saw Miranda. There she was, sitting on the bed with her notebook on her lap. She was writing vigorously with an eagle quill while a lit cigarette smoked idly between the fingers of her other hand. She took a drag from it and blew the smoke out from her nose and mouth.

"So, one cigarette and you're hooked, then?" he snapped, betraying his surprise with the look on his face.

Miranda jumped slightly at the sound of his voice and then smiled when she saw him.

"Does it look real?" asked Miranda.

Severus placed the jar on the nearest table and turned back to her.

He questioned, "Is it not?"

"No," she responded, setting aside her notebook and quill. "This is candy. I got the idea from the Muggle kind that don't give of any smoke or anything. And, since I'm planning on being a writer and all those Muggle authors smoked and had incense, that smelly stuff, I decided I would too. Harry gave me these regular Muggle ones and I charmed them to have the taste of strawberry and give off the smell of sandalwood."

"Isn't it harsh on your lungs?"

"No," she answered simply. "You don't really inhale, per se. It's more like you just kind of suck in and when you blow out, the candy is left in your mouth in a sort of liquefied powder state."

"Ingenious," Severus commented with the arch of a brow. "Now you can smoke, have your sweet fix, and suffocate others with your incense all at once."

She smiled and tossed him a pack. He caught it and saw that she had charmed them grape flavor. He smirked.

"And now if I ever have to pose as a prostitute again I don't have to mooch off my clients," she added cheerfully, raising the sweet to her lips and taking another pull.

"Ah." Severus crossed the room and fell backwards across the bed, spread-eagled and his eyes narrowed. "Yes, I was wondering about that. Do tell."

She grinned, shuffled over to where he was and pinned his arms down. At the sight of his quizzical expression, she planted a lingering kiss on his lips and gave a chuckle from deep in her chest.

"How's about I show you instead?"

Without taking his intrigued gaze off of her he raised a hand and the door swung shut and locked.

"I think that's the finest idea you've had all day."

-

Ginny had a clipboard and parchment balanced on one knee in the maternity ward waiting room at St. Mungo's. With her sat Harry, Hermione and the rest of the Weasleys. She scribbled something down and then turned to Harry, who was twiddling his thumbs as he sat slouched in his chair.

"What do you say to a simple wedding, Harry?" asked Ginny thoughtfully.

Harry shrugged. He really didn't care how the wedding went as long as she was the bride. When he voiced his opinion she tittered quietly and kissed him on the cheek.

"You're sweet, Harry, but a little participation would be nice," she said quietly, as to not disturb the other people in the waiting room.

He turned his green eyes on her and added, "Okay, a simple wedding sounds nice. Just the intimate friends and family – like Neville, Dean, Seamus and Luna. And your family, of course."

"And Hermione."

Harry suppressed a smirk and glanced at Ron, who looked sort of green.

"If Hermione's not a Weasley by then, you mean," he murmured so that nobody else could hear but Ginny.

The female redhead's eyes widened.

"You mean he's going to propose?" she asked excitedly, her eyes flickering towards her youngest brother.

Harry nodded, a smile turning in the corners of his mouth as he stared forward. "He was going to today, but then Tonks went into labor. By tonight, I think, they'll be engaged." Turning to Ginny he added, "What would you say about a double wedding? Maybe save some galleons on food or something?"

Ginny laughed and replied, "Harry, it's a _wedding_! We shouldn't be worried about galleons, at least not for one day. And a double wedding sounds fantastic, now that you mention it. I'd have to say that Luna would be my Maid of Honor, considering that Hermione would be on the altar for other purposes."

Harry nodded vaguely and looked towards the door that he knew Lupin was probably pacing behind.

"If Lupin's not wrapped up in the werecub I'll probably ask him to be my best man, as Ron'll be with Hermione. He can pick his own best man if he wants, or we'll share one." Harry closed his eyes and leaned back, tired all of a sudden. Ginny elbowed him in the ribs.

"Come on Harry, don't fall asleep on me now," she said jokingly. "I need your help."

"Yes Master," he replied, and sat up again.

Ginny laughed again and went back to her clipboard.

"Master, huh? I like that."

No sooner had Harry closed his eyes again than Lupin opened the door to the ward. Everyone stood up expectantly, listening.

"Uh," Lupin said slowly, as if he was having a hard time believing himself. "I – I'm a father."

The applause was deafening. Natalie Andromeda Lupin had been born.

That night at dinner, in front of all the Weasleys and the Snapes (Remus and Tonks had stayed overnight at the hospital) Ron proposed to Hermione. She had kissed him in reply; Severus was reminded disturbingly of the time he had asked Miranda to marry him and the reaction _he_ had received.

After the celebration subsided, everybody went to their various rooms. Hermione sat with her back against the bed board and a book propped up on her knees, but she found that she was unable to read due to the event that had taken place a few hours ago. Ron came out of the bathroom, pulling a shirt over his head, and collapsed onto the bed next to Hermione. She looked up from her book and smiled at him.

"Hello," she said calmly, smiling warmly.

Ron yawned in reply, got up on his knees, and kissed his bride-to-be.

"Fancy seeing you here," he said conversationally, grinning his lopsided grin.

Hermione laughed and looked back down at her book. After a few moments, however, she gave an aggravated growl and closed the book with a _snap_.

"I can't think straight," she said in false anger. "It's all your fault, Ron Weasley."

He laughed, plucked the book from her hands, and threw it across the room. Hermione looked scandalized.

"Oops," he said nonchalantly, "that was my fault, too. And that." He pulled the covers off of Hermione and, laughing happily, attacked.

A floor away, Miranda was struggling to write her novel. Severus, who had just finished writing something down in his old potions book, looked up from his work and saw her distress.

"What's troubling you now?" he asked, closing _Advanced Potion-Making_.

"I don't know, not really," Miranda replied. "I mean, it's a bunch of things – like a chain of thoughts."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I mean, I can't be killed now, apparently, at least not as far as I can tell. And what good does invincibility do if I can't have additional children?"

She looked up at him with depression evident on her face. He, on the other hand, did not have any expression.

"I don't understand your logic," he stated.

She sighed and turned away from him so that he did not see a tear snake down her cheek. He sensed her sadness, however, and opened _Advanced Potion-Making _again to a certain page.

"I think," he said, "I can help you. I've been doing some research on the _Progenitor Veneficium _and I might be able to… tweak the circumstances in which it operates."

Miranda hastily wiped her tear away and turned to face Severus, who was looking down at his book in concentration.

"Y-you can?" she stammered.

"I think so," he replied slowly. "I just need some research to be done. Actually," he brought the old book closer to his face, "I need a lot of research to be done."

Miranda pursed her lips together and absently ran a hand through her hair.

"I can take care of that," she said. "And I know exactly how."

Meanwhile, a few doors down from Ron and Hermione's room, Harry and Ginny were talking once again about wedding plans. Harry stretched out on the bed, face-down and exhausted.

"Ginny, if you say 'wedding' again, I'll snap," Harry moaned into his pillow.

Ginny laughed and crossed the room, plopping herself unceremoniously beside him on the bed.

"Wedding," she said simply, running her fingers though his hair.

He began to cough and splutter mockingly and she laughed.

"Wedding," she repeated, sweeping her red hair off her shoulders.

Harry rolled around and sat up, pulling her by the scruff of the neck and kissing her to silence her.

"Shut up."

-

During the course of the next few days Miranda was unable to do much research, as the roundup of stray Death Eaters had begun. This task was not incredibly difficult, as the Death Eaters were now scattered and unorganized, as well as fearful. Within just a few days, as Miranda had taken care of the vast majority of Death Eaters, Harry and the Order had managed to compile a list of the rest of the Death Eaters whose bodies had not been found at the Death Eater Headquarters.

When Mrs. Weasley found a nest containing eggs that could possibly belong to a lethifold, one of which was hatched, the Order was forced to vacate the building to Hogwarts while it was being searched by Moody and Kingsley. Miranda jumped at this opportunity, for it meant that she could use the Hogwarts library to research Rowena Ravenclaw and the _Progenitor Veneficium_.

The castle had not changed in the slightest and Miranda felt the same wonder that she felt the very first time she'd set foot in the castle. Now, as summer was rapidly approaching, students were lounging around on the grounds. Christine, while awed and excited at the prospect of living in a castle, for she had read every fairy tale she could get her hands on, found the monstrosity of it quite overwhelming.

A woman with pale blonde hair drifted over, idly looking at the clouds as she passed. She made a beeline straight for Miranda and Christine.

"Hi Luna," Miranda said pleasantly as the blonde approached.

"Hello Professor Kent," Luna said, and then her round eyes landed on Christine, who was clinging to her mother's hand. "Or are you married now?" She looked at Miranda's finger and sought a ring. "Oh, you are, I see. Is this girl yours? It must be because she looks exactly like you." Miranda shifted slightly; Luna had a knack for making her feel considerably awkward. Luna, however, seemed perfectly fine and, when she saw Severus levitating a mass of suitcases up the slope of the grounds, said, "You're married to Professor Snape, then? He was never very friendly to me; I think he just favored the Slytherins over us Ravenclaws, but he must have a heart somewhere if he's married. Then again, if you got pregnant before you were married, the whole situation would be different. Hello, Professor," she added as Severus walked by with the suitcases and she was rewarded with a curt nod as he swept past.

Miranda took this silence as an opportunity to change the subject.

"Well you've certainly grown, Luna," she said lightly, switching Christine to her other arm. "Do you work here?"

Luna smiled pleasantly.

"Yes, I've taken over the Divination position for Firenze and Professor Trelawney."

"Ah, I see. And what happened to them?"

"Oh, Firenze was accepted back into his clan after Bane died and Professor Trelawney decided that her talents would be better appreciated elsewhere. I think that she was just mad that people stopped taking her class."

Miranda raised a brow.

"Do you have any students?"

Luna sighed and looked up at the sky briefly before replying, "Oh yes, of course. Young students are always there to teach and some older students stay with the subject, though I don't pretend to be a Seer."

"You talk a lot," Christine observed, pointing her finger at Luna.

Luna smiled and Miranda raised her eyebrows at her daughter. Even Severus, who was passing on his way down the lawn towards the gate, gave an appreciative smirk.

"Do you think so?" Luna asked. Christine nodded and Luna smiled again. "Oh, that's nice. Well, I'm supposed to show you your quarters, but I don't think that's necessary, as you're just going to be in the same room that Professor Snape used to have."

Miranda nodded and thanked the blonde. She set Christine down and cracked her knuckles.

"Would you like me to show you the kitchens?" Luna asked Christine. "I'm sure the elves would love to meet you. What's your name?"

"I'm Christine Nicole Snape," Christine recited. "Can I meet the elves? Do they wear pointy hats and curly shoes? Does Father Christmas work here, too?"

Luna laughed, took Christine's hand, and began leading her to the castle. Harry and Ron appeared beside Miranda once Luna and Christine disappeared from view, both men levitating large trunks. Miranda laughed when she saw them.

"So the women have you dealing with all their luggage, do they?" Miranda asked. "Why is it that you're moving to the castle now, too?"

Harry grimaced slightly.

"Because," Harry said reluctantly, "Dumbledore doesn't think it's safe for openly supportive Phoenixes to be living at their homes at the moment – what with the Death Eaters and all. And I don't have anywhere else to go at the moment anyway, so I might as well be here."

"Yeah," Ron said, and his lack of concentration sent all the luggage crashing to the ground. He swore loudly and stared at a trunk, which had opened and spilled books everywhere. "I never knew Hermione planned on bringing her entire library on this trip. They have us working like house elves here."

"Get used to it," Severus drawled as he passed yet again, this time levitating a cauldron full of books up towards the castle. "It doesn't change."

Miranda stuck her tongue out at him as he passed without a backward glance, his old robes sweeping the ground behind him.

"I hate to say it, Gents, but he's right," Miranda said with a shrug and a smile, and levitated a trunk to assist Ron.

-

A few days later, Miranda strode into the library. Her eyes swept the room and landed on her query and she crossed the room. Planting herself down in a chair and pushing a large stack of books aside, she saw that the woman sitting across from her looked slightly distressed.

"Hermione, I need your help."

Hermione looked up from her book and replied, closing her book, "Yeah?"

Miranda looked anxiously around the room to make sure they were not being eavesdropped upon and then the two women brought their heads closer together.

"Severus and I are making the potion that will change the _Progenitor Veneficium_, but we can't do all the research on our own in time," Miranda said in a rush.

Hermione furrowed her brows.

"What's the rush, Professor?" questioned Hermione, confused.

Miranda took a deep breath and replied, "Well, Hermione, the _Progenitor Veneficium_ prevents me from having additional children, as you know, but it'll undoubtedly stop any pregnancy that's already happening."

Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly, considering the other woman's words carefully. "You're pregnant, Professor, aren't you?" When Miranda nodded fearfully, Hermione sighed and muttered, "What a coincidence."

Miranda sat back suddenly, surprised out of her dark thoughts.

"You are?" she asked, incredulous.

Hermione nodded; it was obvious she was holding back tears.

"That's what I've been reading up on," she whispered hurriedly, gesturing to all the books around her. "I don't know how to raise a child and I'm afraid to ask my parents because I don't think they'll approve that I've been… that I've gotten pregnant before I got married."

Miranda leaned over and patted Hermione reassuringly on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Hermione," she said calmly. "I'll help you – trust me, I know how you're feeling. And to think, at least you know Ron loves you – I didn't even know if Severus was interested in marriage at the time." She suddenly felt a whole lot more cheerful. "Does Ron know?"

Hermione shook her head, pursing her lips and allowing several tendrils of curly brown hair to escape from her haphazard bun and frame her face. "No," she muttered. "Not yet. I don't want to scare him."

Miranda laughed but sobered up quickly when she remembered the purpose of this conversation.

"Nobody knows more about this library than you and Madam Pince, and I'm afraid of that woman; I spilled Butterbeer on a book in my third year and I haven't approached her since. Will you help me?"

Hermione nodded vigorously and asked, "Does Professor Snape know yet?"

Miranda shook her head just as Ginny plunked herself beside her in a chair and put her head close to form a huddle.

"What are we hiding?" Ginny asked excitedly, propping her chin up on her fist. "Do you need my help?"

Miranda smiled gratefully at Ginny. "I need all the help I can get." She then proceeded to explain the works of the _Progenitor Veneficium_ and then finished with, "It's really important that I figure out more about the _Progenitor_ soon because, well, because I'm pregnant."

Ginny raised an eyebrow and stroked her chin thoughtfully before saying, "What a coincidence."

-

Remus and Tonks, along with their new addition, joined the Order of the Phoenix members at Hogwarts a few days after the original settlement.

Remus and Severus sat together in the faculty room, Severus ignoring Remus completely and writing down something from _Hogwarts, a History_ in a spiral notebook. Remus watched the other man work for a while until a thought occurred to him.

"Severus, may I ask you a question about Miranda?" Remus asked cautiously though still conversationally, taking a sip from his tea.

"If you must," Severus replied tersely, pausing in his writing to read something that he had missed while listening to Remus; Severus was comfortable in saying that he knew just about everything about Miranda, from her middle name (which was Antwanette, for she was named after a great aunt of little importance and disliked the name immensely.) right down to the inconspicuous birth mark on her left hip.

"Why is it that she kept her name when she was in 'hiding'?" Remus asked curiously.

Severus tilted his head back and rolled it on his shoulders, for his neck was stiff from all his research.

"There are a lot of Kents," he replied, "and most people didn't know that Marcus and Penelope Kent had even had a child."

There was a pause, in which Severus returned to jotting down notes and Remus drank thoughtfully from his cup.

-

On June 29th, which also happened to be Miranda's birthday, Severus marched triumphantly into the bedroom, brandishing a list and a newspaper. He crossed the room, walking right by his sleeping wife, and threw open the curtains in one sweeping gesture. The light fell on Miranda and she groaned, opening her eyes.

"Are you psycho, Severus?" she cried out sleepily, rolling over and holding her pillow over her face. "It's five in the morning."

"I've done it!"

Miranda threw the pillow away from her face and sat up abruptly, eyes wide.

"You have?"

"Yes."

Severus sounded more excited then she could ever remember him being. He walked back over and picked up the parchment and newspaper, then walked over to Miranda and held it under her nose. Miranda took the parchment, read it, and then grinned broadly.

"You are a genius!" she exclaimed, leaping from under her covers and tackle-hugging him. "An absolute, bloody genius!"

He sat himself back up in a more dignified position and snatched up the newspaper, saying, "Would you mind explaining this?"

It was a copy of the _Daily Prophet_. The main headline read "_Dead Man and His Wife Search for a Cure_" and below it was a small picture of Hogwarts castle. Miranda took the article and read it over quickly. It was a small article, written by Colin Creevy, and it was very brief. Miranda took the liberty of reading a section aloud in a portentous voice.

"… _Severus Snape, who was previously believed to be dead, and his wife, former heir of Ravenclaw, Miranda (previously Kent) are currently doing research to change the effects of the coveted _Progenitor Veneficium_. This charm, invented by Rowena Ravenclaw, enables the heir of Ravenclaw to possess a frightening amount of magical ability such as wandless magic and spell-casting that could rival Merlin himself. An unfortunate side effect of this charm is that the heir of Ravenclaw may only have one child, lest the magical distribution become too thin. Miranda herself had only one brief statement to make before closing her bedroom door in my face, a stack of books in her arms:_

'_Some things are more important than power.'_

_Miranda has disclosed that she will hold a short press conference the day she and (former Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry) Severus Snape test out their 'invention', whatever that may be._

_For more on the _Progenitor Veneficium_ and Rowena Ravenclaw, visit pages 10 and 13, respectively…_"

Miranda looked up from the article, beaming and obviously proud of herself. Severus, however, looked slightly annoyed. He raised a brow as she peered at him over the top of the newspaper.

"A press conference? We're going to drink this potion in front of them?" He seemed on the verge of losing his patience.

She shrugged.

"Yeah, it doesn't matter. The worst thing that could happen is that we die and Rita Skeeter gets to write a nice article for whatever paper she's for that we're lousy potion makers. Either way, we'll be dead. Nobody will laugh at us, you know, they're all just amazed that we'd be willing to potentially give up all our extra power." She cast an eye over his doubtful expression and rolled up the _Prophet_ in one hand before tossing it into the rubbish. "And even _that's_ not so bad. I mean, you haven't had it for more than six years and I, well… I didn't get it 'till I was about six anyway."

She turned her face to the window and Severus knew that she was probably thinking about her parents – she'd hardly gotten to know them before they'd died. He pulled a thin box out of his pocket and prodded her with it. Her hair whipped about when she turned and her lips twitched upwards when she saw the box. Briefly she mad eye contact with him, and then took the small package and opened it.

"Why, Severus, I do believe this is the coolest thing I've ever seen," she said, amused as she took a sleek silver watch from the box and held it up. She eyed it carefully, pushing buttons. It looked like a completely normal watch except for a silver button on the face. "What's this do?" She pushed the button and it beeped once. Alarmed, she looked up at Severus. "What's it doing?"

"It records memos," he said plainly with a shrug. "Time, date, and what it regards. Just tell it and it'll remind you however long before it that you want. I figured you could use the wall space for something more valuable."

Both their heads turned to the wall, which was adorned with sticky notes. Miranda gave a laugh and spoke into the watch.

"Beat the living hell out of Ron for taking my Agrippa Wizard Card at twelve noon on June 29th of this year. Remind me an hour previous."

The watch beeped again to confirm and then fell silent. Miranda gleefully slapped the watch on her left wrist and grinned at Severus, who was evidently trying not to look too pleased with himself.

"You know, Severus," Miranda said slowly, absently fiddling with her watch but not really paying attention; she obviously didn't want to meet his eyes. "As wonderful as this is, you've already given me the best gift possible."

His brow arched slightly and he shifted into the Indian-style position on the bed, knowing all too well that he was about to be surprised – he knew Miranda too well to not think so. "Oh yeah?" His voice was indifferent, just as he had known it would be; he prided himself on knowing when not to sound like he cared, especially around Miranda.

"Yeah. I'm pregnant again."

Once again, Miranda had showed her knack for springing things on Severus when he was the least prepared. He was not surprised, he was absolutely shocked. He shook his head once, greasy hair flopping, and tried several times to make sensible words. Finally he managed to pull himself together enough to speak. "You love doing that, don't you? Besides, that's not possible… _that_."

Miranda's brows disappeared beneath her hair.

"Oh yeah?" she said. "It is possible. It's _happening_, for Merlin's sake. That's why we need to hurry – I could lose it at any time."

He gaped at her for another moment before they both turned to the finished potion instruction parchment.

"Well what the hell are we waiting for?" he snapped, snatching up the parchment, he and Miranda both scrambling to their feet. "We have a potion to make!"

-

Harry and Ron hurried down one of the many marble staircases in the direction of the Great Hall, both pulling on their cloaks.

"Are the girls down there already?" Harry asked, jamming a hat over his unruly hair.

Ron was hopping from step to step, trying desperately to cram his foot into his old trainers.

"Beats me," he panted. With a grunt, he managed to slip the shoe on and he resumed running. "But if we were any later, we might as well not go."

Harry made an indignant sound and ducked under a tapestry pretending to be a solid wall, running full out with Ron close behind him. They skidded to a halt outside the vast oak doors of the Great Hall and took deep breaths to calm themselves.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I ever will be," Harry replied. "Wand out. Let's go."

Ron, with his wand in one hand, pushed the door open with a grunt and he and Harry stepped inside the Great Hall. The place was pretty full, as family and friends alike had come to see this history-changing event. The four House tables had been replaced by rows upon rows of steel fold-up chairs, in which the guests and reporters sat. Albus Dumbledore sat in the very front chair beside Christine, who was swinging her legs in her chair, her feet dangling a foot off the ground. At the head table sat Severus and Miranda with a steaming cauldron at Severus' right. Hermione stood at the cauldron, adding a few last-minute ingredients and double-checking the list that Severus and Miranda had perfected together. Colin Creevy and Rita Skeeter were the only familiar reporters, both with Quick-Quotes Quills. Both of these had been personally scanned by Harry and Ron to make sure they didn't twist the story around. As Colin was writing for the _Prophet_, Skeeter was undoubtedly reporting for the _Quibbler_, much to Harry's amusement. The woman's hair hung lank in her face, totally devoid of the bounce it once had. In fact, Rita seemed to have lost whatever malicious aura she once possessed and now seemed almost, well, _tame_.

Once Miranda saw that Harry and Ron were positioned at their stations at the back door, she sent a wink in their direction and stood.

Opening her arms and grinning, she said, "As promised, a press conference. Any questions?"

Instantly people began shouting questions, but neither Miranda nor Severus seemed surprised. Severus raised his hand and the crowd fell silent.

"A little civilized behavior would be appreciated," he said in a dangerously calm voice, and a sense of foreboding swept across the room; Severus had a way with words, it seemed, or maybe it was just his facial expression.

Colin raised his hand and Miranda pointed at him, addressing him by name at the same time. He looked down at his notepad before looking back up at Miranda and giving her a business-like smile.

"Professor, what makes you think that this potion will work?"

Miranda tilted back her chair and propped her combat boots up on the table. She thought for a moment before replying, "You know, Colin, I'm really not sure. Severus and I, with the exception of, say, Lily Potter –" she bowed her head out of respect when she said the name Lily Potter "– are just about the only people who had the guts to leave the safe path of instructions and do some experimenting of our own. I'm not bragging, don't get me wrong, but really, when you get down to it, Severus and I have never failed at making a new potion. We've done the research with a load of help, of course, and we've taken every precaution that we could possibly take. Does that answer your question?"

Colin nodded and another reporter raised his hand as Colin checked his Quick-Quotes Quill, which was skating across the page of his parchment. Miranda pointed at him next.

"We all know that the _Progenitor Veneficium_ was a charm, so why did you chose to make a potion? Also, can you describe the content of this potion?"

Severus replied this time after muttering something to Hermione, who nodded once and began ladling the potion into three clear glasses, each with a handle on them like a beer flask.

"We chose to make a potion because, as was said, Miranda and I are both particularly adroit with the precise art of potion-making. Several charms were done on the potion as well, but the potion remains just that – a potion."

"As far as the content goes," Miranda continued, cutting into Severus' talking, "we can't really say what exactly we did because that would be, well, kind of dense of us. However, I can tell you one thing – we have tweaked the circumstances under which the _Progenitor_ operates. Before, this charm could be transmitted to any person who you share a child with, though the heir of Ravenclaw could only have one child. This potion will change that – the heir will be able to have as many children as they want, and the Progenitor will merely divvy up the 'magical buildup' when the heir and spouse die. With this potion, the _Progenitor Veneficium _can only be transmitted if the two people, heir and… partner, are in love."

A murmur swept across the room and quills scratched on paper for a few moments before Rita Skeeter raised her hand. Miranda pointed at her and she stood up.

"How can you be so sure that you are in real, true love?" she asked skeptically, reminding Harry of the Rita Skeeter that had cornered him in the broom closet.

Severus narrowed his eyes, sending a glare at the reporter, but Miranda snorted, completely unfazed.

"Come on now," Miranda said, looking genuinely amused. She elbowed Severus in the ribs, but he didn't smile. "To answer your question, Rita, I don't think anything else on earth could have possibly kept us together, eh Sev?"

Severus said nothing, nor did he look amused. He gave Miranda a well-rehearsed "shut up or I'll poison you" look that had no effect on her. After Miranda's statement, though, none of the reporters seemed to have anything else to ask. Miranda looked around at the reporters and when none of them raised her hands, clapped her hands together once.

"Okay then, let's get this over and done with. Christine, if you please."

Christine leapt up and skipped up to the head table, then sat herself down between her parents. Miranda handed them each a mug and then took her own. Colin raised his hand and Miranda pointed at him with the frothing and steaming glass in her hand.

"Is there anything you'd like to say before you change history?"

Miranda grinned and raised her glass. She, Severus and Christine clinked their glasses together, Miranda and Christine a little more enthusiastically than Severus. "Yeah," Miranda said cheerfully. "Bottoms up!"

That being said, she, Severus and Christine raised their glasses simultaneously and drank. The Hall was completely silent and Harry gripped the handle of his wand so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

_Pleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework…_ he thought desperately, holding his breath.

Severus finished his first and lowered the glass, pulling a face slightly and wiping his mouth on his sleeve. Next finished Miranda, licking her lips and looking utterly disgusted, as if she'd just tasted the worst thing in her life. Christine finished last, and when she lowered her glass she stuck her tongue out and made a gagging sound. The tension in the room seemed to ease a bit and some people laughed at the sight of the repulsed six-year-old.

"How do you feel?" Rita asked excitedly. "Queasy? Faint? Do you think that you'll survive this grueling experience?"

"We're not dead," Miranda said calmly, shrugging her shoulders. "That's a good thing. That's all that really matters in the end, whether the potion works or not."

And she was right, thought Harry. Whether the potion worked or not was beside the point, really, and the only thing that really mattered was that they were alive, well, and that they'd tried. His eyes sought Ginny, who had her hand resting lightly on her barely noticeably bulging abdomen, and he confirmed his thoughts. Somehow or another, thought he didn't know how he knew, everything was going to be alright. That was what mattered, after all.

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A/N: Aww, the end of the last _real_ chapter. The last chapter is more of an epilogue, and hopefully a lot shorter than this. But anyway, thanks to everybody for reading, and a special thanks to my reviewers, especially to those who have forced themselves to read each chapter since I published the first. Thanks to everybody!


	10. Epilogue

A/N: I struggled over the ending of this for bloody _hours_. It was terrible. But here it is, and I'm relatively happy with it, though the last line could be better... Thanks again to everybody who has made it this far, and I hope you've enjoyed it!

My final statistics (courtesy of MS Word) are:

Words: 50,595 (new personal record!)

Pages on Word (12pt Times New Roman): _exactly_ 89

Paragraphs: 1,762

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Disclaimer: I own nothing… especially not Harry Potter.

Happy Reading!

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**Epilogue**

Platform nine and three quarters was just as full of students as always. Students running about, meeting friends from the previous years and making new ones, too. To Severus, being back on the platform always reminded him of his first day at Hogwarts. Though not necessarily a fond memory, it was still an important one. At the moment, he was struggling not to get lost in the endless sea of students and family.

"Dad, hurry up or I'll miss the train!"

Severus hurried up half a pace, though he knew there was no way that missing the train was possible, unless of course they all dropped dead where they stood. They had come to the platform a half an hour early for the sole purpose of being able to take their time. It was not every day that your child had their first day of school. Ever.

"Wow, look, Christine, it's even bigger than last year!"

Christine laughed a laugh so much like her mother's as she carried Stupid II in his cage towards the scarlet train. An eleven-year-old boy followed directly behind her, anxiously looking around for somebody he knew. The boy was yet another spitting image of his mother, with the exception of his short, jet black hair which, thanks to Miranda, was not greasy in the slightest.

"We'll be right back," Christine called over her shoulder, and walked off, the cage in one hand and her trunk dragging behind her in the other.

"Make sure Alden has a compartment!" Miranda shouted over the crowd as a Third Year went running by, balancing a mountain of books.

Christine and Alden disappeared amidst the massive crowd of students that was not getting any smaller, Christine's long ponytail swinging as she walked.

"Every year, more of the same, eh Sev?" Miranda said in mock exasperation, grinning at her husband, who was wading waist-deep in students.

Severus grunted in reply, bodily picking up a small, squeaking boy and moving him over so that he could get past. After a few minutes a pair of eleven-year-old boys stopped in front of Miranda, identical grins on their freckled faces and a glint in their hazel eyes. Miranda groaned and put a hand over her eyes.

"Lord help me, I'm seeing double," she said, and then held out a hand, laughing. "How're you doing, boys? Excited about your first year at Hogwarts?"

"Of course," said one boy.

"Mum and Dad have told us all sorts of stuff," added the other.

"And Uncles Fred and George," continued the first boy.

"They told us a bunch of secret stuff!" finished the second.

"But of course," Severus said snappishly, though the twins didn't seem to notice being addressed this way, nor did they seem to care. "Your namesakes caused me nothing but grief in my teaching years – not a damned thing."

"Oh Professor, do you have to use such foul language in front of my boys?" came a mocking voice, and the voice and Miranda laughed.

Severus rolled his eyes and turned around to see Harry and Ginny standing together, Harry with a little girl, no older than four, on his shoulders. Ginny got down on one knee in front of the twins and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. The twins' names were Fred and George, which seemed to be both blessing and curse, for the younger twins caused just about as much mischief and mayhem as Fred and George Senior had caused before them. The little girl on Harry's shoulders was Lily, and she had red hair like her mother and green eyes like her father.

The twins looked around and then back at Miranda.

"Where's Alden?" asked Fred.

"We've got something to show him," George added.

Miranda narrowed her eyes at the grinning boys and then jerked her head towards the scarlet train. "Christine's bullying people around so that he can have a compartment for the four of you and whoever else you meet."

The scrawny redheaded twins exchanged mischievous looks and ran off, dragging their trunks behind them. Harry looked at his watch.

"We've still got fifteen minutes," he said aloud. "Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"I talked to Hermione this morning and offered to bring Jacob, but she wanted to bring him herself," replied Ginny, ducking as a fanged Frisbee soared over her head.

"Naturally, naturally." Miranda shrugged casually.

A moment later there was a loud _thud_. Everybody turned around to see a little redheaded boy lying face-first on the ground, glasses broken beside him. Nobody moved, nor did they looked surprised in the slightest. Hermione came running up moments later just as Jacob was clambering to his feet and dropped to her knees.

"Jacob Arthur, you are a walking disaster." Hermione sounded affectionately exasperated as she scooped up the boy's glasses and repaired them. She handed them back to her son, watched as he put them on, and then said, "Remember, Jacob, it's _Reparo_, got it?"

"Yes, Mum. I've already read _Standard Book of Spells, Grade One_, remember?"

"Yeah, and he was halfway through _Grade Two_ by the time I rescued him."

"Oh Ron, it's not a bad thing that he's going to school prepared."

Hermione rolled her eyes and straightened as Ron dropped Jacob's trunk down and gave it a good kick for measure. Jacob picked up the handle of his trunk and dragged it off.

"Where's everybody?" he called over his shoulder.

"Getting a compartment." Ginny, Miranda and Harry had all shouted it. Jacob nodded and walked off through the mass of students.

Miranda turned to Hermione with a smile. "So, where are _your_ twins? Lily's here, how come they're not?"

"They're with Molly, thank God," Hermione replied, putting her hands gingerly on her hips and leaning back with a grunt. She tapped her stomach and added, "Twins again, I fear. It's a good thing I have plenty of time to work on that revised edition of _Advanced Potion-Making_ before I have to leave work. Ron tells me he and Harry have been overloaded at the Auror office."

Harry nodded and Lily snatched his glasses off his face, laughing manically.

"Hermione, maternity leave won't do a damn thing against you if you're looking for more time to write, trust me," Miranda assured her with a grin. "At least until you have a new baby to take care of."

"Or two," Ron added, grinning; it was clear that he'd always wanted a ton of kids and it seemed that he was getting his wish.

Soon enough, all the children were back on the platform, saying their last goodbyes to their parents before the Holidays. Miranda watched as Hermione warned Jacob against acting like he knew everything and Ginny warned the twins that sending home a Hogwarts toilet seat would not be tolerated, no matter what Uncles Fred and George had said. Harry roared with laughter during the speech, Lily still on his shoulders, messing up his hair. Miranda knelt down in front of her own son and ruffled his hair back affectionately.

"Now, Alden, remember: just because you _can_ use wandless magic doesn't mean you _should_. Got it?" She cautioned. "Nobody likes a showoff, trust me."

Alden rolled his eyes and whined, "I know, Mum, you told me a bazillion times already. 'Don't use wandless magic' and 'don't show off too much'."

Miranda grinned and handed him a box containing fifty or so grape lollipops.

"That's right, now get moving or you'll lose your compartment to some big Seventh Year."

"I'll hex him," insisted Alden innocently. "Dad taught me one that makes your toenails grow real fast!"

"I don't advise it," Severus cut in. "At least, not until you've been sorted." Then, as an afterthought he added, "I wonder what house you'll be in."

Alden grinned wickedly.

"Probably Slytherin," he said. "Christine's heir of Ravenclaw, not me," he did a mocking pantomime at his sister and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Shut up," she said half-jokingly. "At least you get a bit of the _Progenitor_. You could have been a squib, you know. You came about this close to not existing anyway." She marked a very small space between her forefinger and thumb. "I can do wandless magic too, you know."

"So what?" Alden snapped back. "It doesn't matter – I'm just smart and you're jealous, that's all."

Christine rolled her eyes and gave her little brother an affectionate shove. Alden, with one last hug from each of his parents, darted off after Jacob and the twins, box of lollipops under his arm like a Quaffle. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione walked forward to the edge of the platform, but Severus and Miranda stayed behind with Christine.

"So, Head Girl, got any plans of who you're going to boss around first?" Miranda jested.

Christine shrugged thoughtfully, raising up on the balls of her combat boot-clad feet and then sinking back down. "Probably Jenson," she said. "He gave me a real hard time last year about my boots."

"That's _his_ problem, not yours," Miranda persisted. "Besides, your boots are steel-toed and you could give him a good kick if you wanted. Or you could introduce him to bojitsu. Or you could ask him for a midnight duel. "

Christine snorted and both women laughed.

"Meet a nice boy this year," Miranda said, still beaming from ear to ear. Severus scowled, but neither of the women paid him any attention. "But make sure you warn him about your father," she warned. "Here, take this. I'll send you more by owl post." She handed her daughter a package of candy cigarettes – grape flavored, of course. "Have them in the Common Room to piss people off."

"Headmistress McGonagall says its bad symbolism and a bad influence," Christine said reproachfully, though she was clearly fighting a grin.

"Yeah, but since when has the Snape family ever been a good influence? Just look at your father and I!"

Miranda and Christine laughed again. The train gave a blast of its horn to signal one minute until departure and Christine hugged her mother tightly. Then she turned to Severus, who took an old, battered copy of _Advanced Potion-Making _from his pocket. He sighed, looking like he was having an internal battle against himself.

"Here," he said. "Take this. It's a wrench giving it away, but you need it more than I do." Christine's eyes lit up; she'd always seen her father scribbling in his beat-up old book and had often wondered about it. Miranda grinned. "I think you'll find it useful," he continued, "just don't use this particular spell if you want to graduate." he opened the book and pointed to an incantation labeled _Sectumsempra._

Christine smiled softly and took the book.

"Thanks Dad," she said, sounding genuinely delighted. She hugged him tightly and the whistle blew again, signaling the departure. She wheeled around and said over her shoulder, "Gotta go! Don't get into too much trouble while I'm gone, you two!"

Miranda laughed and Severus smirked knowingly. Natalie Lupin threw open the sliding door and Christine hopped onto the train just as it began moving. Alden, Fred and George, Jacob and Christine all leaned out the windows, waving as the train went by. Harry set Lily down on her feet and she began running alongside the train, crying for her brothers.

"Don't worry Lily!" Fred called.

"Yeah, we'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat!" George shouted as the train gained speed.

Lily laughed and cried at the same time and ran to the very edge of the platform as the scarlet steam engine turned the corner and disappeared. All the parents said their goodbyes and departed, all with the exception of Severus and Miranda, who stayed where they stood. People exited around them, some apparating and others going through the platform barrier between nine and ten. Miranda sighed and leaned her head on her husband's shoulder.

"I feel so old," Severus said in a low voice, though not a dangerous one.

Miranda laughed, "That's because you _are_ old, Severus."

He looked down at her and sneered.

"Speak for yourself," he said. "You're on the backburner now, Miranda. Is that a grey I see?" He reached out and touched a strand of her hair, which was indeed a grey strand standing out in a mass of brown.

"Proud of it," she said, putting her hands on her hips defiantly and raising her chin to meet his eyes. "Besides, you gave me those. How long have we been married, now?"

Severus shrugged and replied, "A little over seventeen years, I think, judging by Christine's age." He sighed. "She's of age now."

"Now _that's_ a weird thought," Miranda remarked, rolling her eyes. "Soon she'll be bringing boys home and the next thing you know, she'll be married."

Severus' mouth twitched slightly and he raised a brow, but said nothing. Clearly he wasn't looking forward to that experience. Miranda sighed and smacked her lips together, making a loud popping sound. She then took out a lolly and popped it into her mouth, stuffing the wrapper into her robe pocket.

"You're worried, aren't you, Severus?" she asked with a hint of concern.

"Yes," he replied without delay, his dark eyes glued to the spot where the scarlet steam engine had disappeared around.

Miranda patted him reassuringly on the shoulder, replying, "That's the trouble with being a parent, isn't it? It never ends, the worrying."

"I know," was his quiet reply.

"Well," she said, stretching and yawning. "We've got some time to burn before the Holidays. What do you wanna do next?"

Severus shrugged one shoulder and retorted, "There's been some Potion Theory that I wanted to take care of for the Ministry. Scrimgeour's been bombarding me with owls for a bloody fortnight. And then Albus needs me to gather up some information for him about wandless magic amongst normal wizards."

"Severus, don't you ever want a break?" she asked, rolling the lollipop between her teeth.

"What's that?" he asked, offering an arm to her.

She laughed and linked arms with him and they began sauntering towards the barrier, their footfalls echoing off the platform walls.

"I could go for a good escapade; my life's been too quiet for too long," Miranda mused thoughtfully, stroking her chin. "How about you?"

"But of course," he replied simply. "Come now, I have no desire to stand here all day. Life waits for no one!"

Miranda unlinked her arm from his and backed ahead of him a few steps, laughing like she did when they were younger; before children and war; before times of hardship and suffering. "Catch me if you can!" she shouted, and apparated away, still laughing happily.

Severus smirked to himself as he stood, thinking that some things never changed. He pulled back the left sleeve of his robe and eyed the bare skin of is forearm speculatively. Nothing was there, not even a mark. Sighing, he let his sleeve fall back down over his arm and apparated away. He had been given everything he ever wanted, from another chance at life to somebody to share it all with. All of this and more, every opportunity and every challenge that had come in his way that he had accomplished with Miranda.

And he knew that, no matter what happened, he would pull through in the end. After all, they'd managed to get this far without even the smallest scar.

-

_FIN_


End file.
